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Scholarly & Peer Reviewed Sources: Finding Scholarly & Peer Reviewed Articles

Maintain High Standards

  1. Be selective in deciding who to read and cite. Research the authors, their credentials, and the reception of their work.
  2. Make sure that articles come from recognized journals and have gone through scholarly review.
  3. Use an article's works cited to find more sources. They can lead you to better options.

Use Encyclopedias Strategically

Subject encyclopedias are an excellent starting point for finding scholarly work, because they:

  1. Provide a thorough overview of a topic, and
  2. Include a bibliography or suggestions for further reading. Use the sources they suggest.

Limit to Peer Reviewed

Most databases allow you to refine your search. Look for how to narrow your search by scholarly or peer-reviewed resources.

Here are a few examples: 

          Image of Refining to Peer-reviewed Journals in Library Search     Image of Limiting to Peer Reviewed Journals in EBSCOhost      Image of Filtering Peer-Reviewed Journals in Gale

Related Guides

Databases With Only Scholarly Content

Designated Databases

Disciplinary databases are designed for finding materials in a particular subject area. Different disciplines have different standards for what scholarship looks like. Browse our subject-specific research guides to learn what databases focus on your area of study.

Wikipedia

You can use Wikipedia to get background information and should use the citations provided to find good sources. Don't cite Wikipedia as a scholarly source, because you can't tell who wrote the entry.