Evaluating Articles

Your instructors may require you to cite articles in your assignments. Learn what “peer-reviewed” means and how to identify the differences between peer-reviewed, trade journal, and popular magazine articles.

Types of Articles

Magazines

Colorful, glossy
Many ads
Easy to understand
No citations
Short articles

Peer-Reviewed Articles

For the most part, your instructors will ask you to cite peer-reviewed articles in your papers. Learn why your instructor wants you to use peer-reviewed articles and how to find them below.

What Are Peer-Reviewed Articles?

Peer-reviewed articles are scholarly articles that were reviewed by research experts before they were published. The process of peer review helps to ensure that each published article is unique, accurate, credible, and objective. Ultimately, peer-reviewed articles save you time because they were already evaluated by an expert, so you don’t have to…as much. Plus, they help you:

• establish credibility;
• provide evidence for your arguments;
• enhance the quality of your assignments.

Who writes peer-reviewed articles?

Peer-reviewed articles are mostly written by professors as well as researchers and practitioners. Authors publish peer-reviewed articles with the intent of sharing research findings with other researchers, professionals, and students. You can typically find author credentials on the first page of the article.

How do I find peer-reviewed articles?

You can find peer-reviewed articles in OneSearch by checking the peer-reviewed articles box, which will limit your search to only peer-reviewed articles. To find peer-reviewed articles:

1. Enter keywords into OneSearch.
2. Look at the lefthand column on on your results page (under Show Only).
3. Mark the box labeled Peer-Reviewed Journals.
4. Select Apply Filters.

How do I know if an article is peer-reviewed?

If you find an article outside of OneSearch, and you’re not sure if it’s peer-reviewed, search for the journal’s website using Google. Most journals include information about their editing and review process.

How do I read peer-reviewed articles fast?

Peer-reviewed articles are organized into sections (i.e., abstract, introduction, literature review, methods, results, conclusions, references). Because their structure is so standardized, you can often skip certain sections to speed up the reading process. We recommend only reading the entire peer-reviewed article if:

• you are conducting a research study;
• your assignment requires you to evaluate the research methods used;
• your article is a literature review or meta-analysis.

Recommended Reading Order

Otherwise, we suggest that you save time by reading peer-reviewed articles in the following order:

1. Abstract
   Read the abstract to determine if the article is relevant to your research topic. The abstract is a summary of the article, and it highlights the research’s key findings and population studied.
2. Discussion / Conclusion
   Read the discussion / conclusion to find authors interpratations of the results and the answers to the research questions. This section also identifies any gaps in the research. 
3. Introduction
   Skim the Introduction to find the research questions and rationale for conducting the study. The introduction often inlcudes the literature review, which outlines previous research on the topic and helps contextualize the current work. 
4. Results
   Skip the Results section unless you need to examine uninterpreted or raw results of the research.
5. References
   Review this section to find additional, relevant research and resources on your topic.
6. Methodology
   Skip the Methodology section unless you need to know exactly how the research was conducted or you need to determine the credibility of the research method. 

How do I evaluate peer-reviewed articles?

Use the CRAP (Credibility, Relevancy, Accuracy, Purpose) test to evaluate peer-reviewed articles. Watch our videos to learn more.

Purpose

Explore why the article was published and potential bias.

Watch Video