Peer-Review and Primary Research

Note: You might find different terminology used to refer to peer-reviewed articles. A professor might ask you to find primary studies, primary research, scholarly articles or peer-reviewed articles. These are all generally referred as the same thing, however, if you need further help ask your professor or a librarian!

Below is an example of a peer-reviewed journal for Wildlife Management:

Characteristics of Peer Reviewed Journals

• Journal articles are written by experts in the field. 
• Journal articles are often intended for a person with knowledge in a specific discipline: a medical journal is written for doctors, a legal journal for attorneys, etc.
• The author of a journal article is always listed—usually, along with his or her qualifications or brief information about the author.
• Journal articles include a list of references. This allows you to see what the sources are and to check them if you wish, providing you with other possible resources.
• Scholarly journals are often published by a professional organization or society.
• Often, the word “journal” appears in the title. However, this is not always a good clue: Ladies Home Journal, for instance, is a popular magazine.
• Often, a journal article is preceded by an abstract, or summary of the content.
• Journals do not include advertisements.
• Titles of articles in journals are very revealing of content, not just clever or catchy, as is often the case with popular magazines.
• Scholarly journal articles often report on research; they may include theoretical assumptions, methodology, hypotheses, results, and conclusions. 

Example of a Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Arizona State University. (n.d.). Anatomy of an Article. Retrieved from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/anatomy-of-an-article