Q. What is a scholarly peer-reviewed journal?

Scholarly and peer reviewed journals are publications which may either be subscription-based or open-access (no subscription needed). These journals are not typically published for the audience of the general public but rather for people who are researchers and professionals in that relevant field. The articles in these journals use technical language and jargon understood by scholars in that discipline and will often be structured according to a research methodology that is used in that field. These kinds of publications usually assume the readers' working knowledge of the discipline.

“Peer reviewed” means that the articles in these journals have gone through a review process by a group of experts in the field (i.e. "reviewers") to determine whether the article is worthy of publication in that journal. Before an article is accepted for publication, it must be approved by these authorities. Some resources found in peer reviewed journals are not in fact peer reviewed, however. For instance, letters to and from the editor, book reviews, and other opinion pieces are not peer reviewed articles. Furthermore, the approval of the peer review process should not be taken to indicate that the contents of the article are without error or bias. Rather, the peer review ensures simply vets the material to ensure it is worthy of entering into the scholarly discussion concerning whatever topic it addresses.

Generally, all peer reviewed articles are considered scholarly but not all scholarly materials are peer reviewed. A scholarly resource is one that is considered reputable within the field. The question of determining scholarly reputability is a highly contextual one, but it often includes evaluation of the author's credentials, the publication's intent, and the publication's interaction with other scholarship. Unless otherwise instructed by your professor, a scholarly resource is typically acceptable for use in research papers whether or not it has undergone the peer review process.

For additional information about scholarly and peer-reviewed journals, the JFL has created a short video tutorial. Click here to view: https://watch.liberty.edu/media/t/1_w8zxpu6z/

Peer reviewed articles usually:

• Begin with an abstract (a paragraph that gives a synopsis of the article)
• Have a lengthy reference list or footnotes citing sources used by the author(s)
• Be written by someone who is affiliated with a scholarly institution or someone with respected pedigree in the field

If the article is describing a research study it will:

• Often contain charts and graphs illustrating the research
• Contain numerical data showing statistical methods used in the research
• Have sections describing the research
• The sections will have headings such as “Introduction,”  “Method,” “Results," “Discussion,” and “Conclusion.”

You can use our library databases to find scholarly or peer reviewed journal articles. Most of our databases have a filter box (limiter) you can select so that every item you find comes from a scholarly and/or peer reviewed journal.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to us at (434) 582-2220 or at research@liberty.edu.