PsycINFO Guide: Scholarly vs. Peer-Reviewed

Some scholarly journals are peer-reviewed or refereed, meaning that articles submitted for publication must be approved by a panel of readers who are considered experts in their fields. Because they are highly selective, peer-reviewed journals are often regarded as the best in their field.

Not all journals go through the peer-review process. To determine whether your journal article is peer-reviewed or refereed you must find out if the overall journal the article is published in is peer-reviewed or refereed. The following are several suggestions for determining if a journal is peer-reviewed/refereed or not:

1. Check the journal 
   If you have the print/paper copy of the journal,look at the first couple of pages or the last few pages for information about the journal. Some journals will state that they are "peer-reviewed" or "refereed". You can also look at the contributor or author information. Is there a review policy? Is there an editorial board? Are authors required to submit more than one copy of their manuscripts? If yes, these are good indications that the journal is peer-reviewed/refereed. You could also check to see if the journal has its own website and look for editorial statements or instructions to authors there. 
    
2. Limit your search in a database 
   PsycINFO will allow you to limit the search to only peer-reviewed journals. This is NOT a 100% guarantee that the journals listed under "peer-reviewed" are actually peer-reviewed. Try some of the other options provided to double check that the journal is peer-reviewed. 
   
                                                                
    
3. Check Ulrich's International Periodical Directory. 
   Ulrich's (UlrichsWEB) provides useful information about all types of periodicals (academic and scholarly journals, popular magazines, newspapers, etc.) and can be used to determine if a journal is peer-reviewed.