Exploring Sources: Peer-Review

Peer-Review

What it means for a source to be academic or scholarly can be tricky to define. It really depends on the context of what you are using it for.  What may be appropriate for one assignment, in one discipline, may not be in another. Generally speaking, professors are looking for peer-reviewed articles.

This means that for an article to be published, it goes through a rigorous process of reviewing, editing, and revising. To understand the process a little more, watch the following video. Then answer the reflection questions below.

 

*Please note this video is from Deakin University Library, not UBC Library. Some of the content may be specific to Deakin University. 

Link to: Transcript of the Video

Scholarly and Academic Books

Scholarly or academic books go through a different process. Scholarly or academic books are reviewed by an editor or multiple editors for similar things to the peer review process, including originality, the strength of the argument or discussion being presented, and quality of the research. However, because it does not follow the same process outlined in the video above, it is not peer-reviewed, but often does qualify as a scholarly or academic source.

What Peer Review is Not

Peer review is not a process where citations or spelling and grammar are checked. These are not components of peer-review in the scholarly publishing context. This can be different when as a student you may be peer-reviewing your classmates' work, and looking at spelling, grammar, formatting, and other elements of writing might be part of that process.

Vocabulary:

  • Peer-review

Activity

(Need the worksheet? Exploring Sources Worksheet Download Exploring Sources Worksheet)

On your worksheet, answer this question:

  1. What do peer-reviewers look for in the articles they review?
  2. After watching this video and thinking a bit about peer-review, why do you think you are asked to use peer-reviewed articles in your work at university?

 

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