Peer Review
Learning Outcomes
After using this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Describe the peer review process
- Understand the peer review process across disciplines
- Locate peer-reviewed journal articles
Interactive Tutorial
What is peer review?
Peer review is the process publishers use to decide whether they will publish new research in a journal. Peer-reviewed journals are also called refereed.
How peer review works:
What peer review does:
- Helps to ensure quality of research
- Ensures researcher has used proper methods
- Ensures research is within the scope of the scholarly journal
What peer review does not do:
- Tests for accuracy of stated research results
- Ensures an error-free article — peer review is a human process
Peer review across the disciplines:
Arts
In the arts, research typically refers to creating original art or analytical work. Typical supportive evidence comes from original source materials, books, and peer-reviewed journals.
Humanities
In the humanities, research typically refers to analytical and theoretical work. Typical supportive evidence comes from primary sources, books, and peer-reviewed journals.
Social Sciences
In the social sciences, research typically refers to gathering and analyzing evidence. Typical supportive evidence comes from evidence-based data and peer-reviewed journals.
Natural and Applied Sciences
In the natural and applied sciences, research typically refers to gathering and analyzing evidence. Typical supportive evidence comes from evidence-based data and peer-reviewed journals.
Important note! One field's research is not more important than another. Peer review is only one part of the process of publishing scholarly work and may not be a deciding factor for including a journal article to support your own research question.
Finding peer-reviewed articles with Mason Search:
- Go to library.gmu.edu.
- Enter search terms in the search box.
- Select the “Peer-reviewed Journals” filter on the left side of the screen.
- Select the green “Apply Filters” button.
Finding peer-reviewed articles in databases:
Most of our databases include a “peer-reviewed” filter that limits search results to scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles. Two exceptions to this are the Medline and Web of Science databases. These databases only provide peer-reviewed journals.
EBSCOhost
ABI/Inform Collection
More Resources
To find articles and other resources in your discipline, browse your subject guide. If you have questions or need more help, review our other tutorials on research basics or reach out to us through Ask a Librarian.
