HPR 061: Health Through the Life Cycle Spring 2024

The process of peer review assesses the quality of articles submitted for publication in a scholarly journal. To be published in an academic journal. an article is evaluated by the following process:

• The article is submitted for review to experts in the author's field to assess for credibility, quality, and validity. These fellow experts are considered to be the author's peers ("peer review"). 
• The reviewers impartially assess the quality of the author's articles. 
• The peer reviewers check the manuscript for accuracy and assess the validity of the research methodology and procedures.
• Reviewers may suggest revision or even possibly reject if they have questions about the value of the article. 

The process of peer review helps to ensure the credibility and validity of an information source. 

Not sure if your article is peer reviewed? Look for these clues: 

Author. The author's credentials & institution should be listed. Authors of peer reviewed articles typically have graduate degrees and often work at a university. 

Abstract. Many peer reviewed articles begin with an abstract, which is a paragraph summarizing the research. 

Audience. Peer reviewed articles are written for scholars, researchers, & students who are knowledgeable about the topic, and likely use specialized terminology. 

Purpose. What is the purpose of the article? Does the author want to support findings of a research project, present a case study, make an argument that is supported by evidence or research, etc.? 

References. Peer reviewed articles typically include a bibliography that cites many other peer reviewed sources. 

Publication venue. Peer reviewed articles are published in academic journals. Each journal usually only publishes content that is related to a specific academic discipline or sub-discipline. 

• Click on the Browse the A - Z List oF Databases located below the Discovery search box, on the library database: Hofstra Library homepage 
• As implied, the databases are listed in alphabetical order.  You can access databases either by subject area or alphabetically by name of database.
• Many of these databases provide a box that you can check to search for peer-reviewed articles (Academic Search Premier, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, PsychInfo, ERIC are few examples).  Some databases only contain peer-reviewed articles (JStor, Project Muse, Oxford Academic Journals, Cambridge Journals Online, and Science Direct).
• Often, databases will include a filter for "peer reivewed."
• DISCOVERY system will search across most of our databases in a single search.  Once in the system, you can filter your search results to peer-reviewed journal articles by using the filters on the left side of the screen: Hofstra  Advanced Search