Library DIY

Strategy #1: Use Quick Search, and limit your search to only peer-reviewed articles

• Look for a checkbox, either on the search screen or the results page that limits the search to articles from peer-reviewed journals
  • Be aware that peer-reviewed journals may publish non-peer-reviewed articles, like book reviews and commentary.

Strategy #2: Try a subject specific database.

• Look for databases by subject using the Research Guides. Databases will be listed on the articles tab.
• Read the description to make sure the database includes peer-reviewed articles.
• Limit your search to peer-reviewed.

Strategy #3: Try Google Scholar

• Google Scholar is a tool that allows you to search the web for academic material.
• Not everything on Google Scholar is a peer-reviewed article, so evaluate the material you find carefully.

If you've found an article but you're not sure it was peer-reviewed, you can investigate the journal your article was published in.

• If you are in a database, check to see whether you can click on the journal title for more information about the journal.
• Use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory to learn more about the journal, including whether it is peer reviewed (Ulrich's uses the term "refereed"), how long it has been in publication, which databases index the journal, and more.