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How do I find peer reviewed articles?

 

black and white research paper

 

What are peer reviewed articles?

Peer reviewed articles are published in scholarly, peer reviewed journals and usually follow a consistent format. The articles have gone through a "peer review process" wherein a panel of experts has approved of the quality of writing, soundness of the research methods, logic of results, and significance to the field.

 

Sections of a peer reviewed article

►Abstract: Identifies the focus of the article

►Introduction: Provides context for the article

►Methods: Discusses study design and research methods

►Results: May include graphs, charts, figures, and tables

►Discussion: Where authors write about what their results mean

►Conclusion: Wraps up the article

►References: Section at the end of the paper that lists the other publications the authors cited

 

Tips for reading a peer reviewed paper

  1. Start by reading the abstract. Is the paper relevant to your research? Is it the right "type" of paper (e.g., original research study, literature review, other review paper?)
  2. Jump to the Discussion section. This is where you'll find the study is broken down and the authors describe what they tried to do, and what they actually found.
  3. Skim the Introduction section. This gives you a grounding in why this topic of research is important and what other researchers have explored in this field.
  4. If you're looking for how researchers collected the data, go to the Methods section. If you want to know what limitations the study had and what other avenues are open for furture research, jump to the Conclusion.

What is the difference between Research and Review articles?

Both can be found in peer reviewed journals. However, generally speaking, research articles describe original research that has been conducted, and review articles discuss previously published research. You can often tell from the Abstract of an article whether it is a research article or a review article. For other tips, as well as a breakdown of what these articles look like, please see here:

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