Peer-reviewed resources are scholarly materials that have been written by experts in the field. They are then submitted to a publisher who has other experts in the same field read the article and determine if it adds important information to their field of study.
Non-Peer-Reviewed resources are typically articles in popular magazines, newspapers, and trade publications. These articles tend to be written by reporters or journalists who check their own facts, but are not experts in the field.
Let's use a couple of examples. You are a football player and you are looking for a scholarly article on how to improve the accuracy of your football throws. Determine if the examples below are scholarly peer-reviewed or non-scholarly peer-reviewed.
Example #1: You find an article on improving football throws. It has an abstract. It has a list of references at the end of the article, it is written by Aaron Rogers. It has been read by Patrick Mahomes and Joe Montana and they have advised the publisher that it is new material and will definitely help young and upcoming quarterbacks develop better skills. Is this a scholarly peer-reviewed article or a non-scholarly non-peer-reviewed article? If you said scholarly peer-reviewed then you would be correct!
Example #2: You find an article on improving football throws. It is available in Sports Illustrated. It has a great picture of Patrick Mahomes at the beginning of the article. There are no references listed. The author has quoted information from Joe Montana, Patick Mahomes, and Aaron Rogers. Is this a scholarly peer-reviewed article or a non-scholarly non-peer-reviewed article? If you said non-scholarly non-peer reviewed then you would be correct!
The video on your right will also provide a good explanation of the difference between peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed. Take 3 minutes to watch the video and then, if you still need assistance, please contact a librarian for more help!
Watch this video for help in determining which of your resources are scholarly peer-reviewed or non-scholarly, non-peer-reviewed. Contact your librarian for additional assistance.
Video made by Carnegie Vincent Library and is published under a Creative Commons license for reuse (Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed))
