The University of St. Thomas

Resources for Identifying Peer-reviewd Journals

Resources for Identifying Peer-reviewed Journals

Scholarly academic journals are usually "peer-reviewed" or "refereed," indicating that the editors have established a process for having articles reviewed by experts in the field to ensure they meet discipline standards for quality and accuracy. Unfortunately, there is not a single authoritative source for this information.  The Libraries have several tools available to help you determine whether or not a title is peer-reviewed:

  • Indicators in indexing databases: Several of the databases (CSA, Ebsco, Wilson, etc.) have either an indicator in the search results telling users that the journal is peer-reviewed, or an ability to limit searches to peer-reviewed articles, or both.
  • The Serials Directory: A general database of current bibliographic information for popular serials containing over 178,500 U.S. and international titles; includes contact info, price, frequency, publication type (academic/scholarly generally indicates peer-reviewed or refereed), and indexing sources.
  • Ulrich's Periodicals Directory: Information on periodicals and serials from 90,000 publishers internationally includes publisher contact information, year of first publication, frequency, editor, number of subscriptions, subject-areas covered, online availability, databases and indexing services that index content, peer-reviewed status, and reviews (if available). (This source is also available in the OSF and Keffer Library reference collections as a 4-volume print directory with title, subject, and ISSN indices. An arrow symbol ( ) denotes that the publisher has indicated a title is peer-reviewed: Call # Z6941 .U56.)
  • Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities: A database for Business, Education, and Psychology that identifies journals by topical area; includes contact info, topical scope, peer review processes, circulation data, acceptance rate, and manuscript submission guidelines.
  • Journal web site:  Since there is no authoritative or regulatory source for this information, if a journal claims to be peer-reviewed or refereed, then it is. Obviously, this by itself is not a measure of quality. Use your favorite search engine to do a phrase search (enclose the title in double-quotes "  ") for the title; on the journal's web site, look for sections on instructions for authors, submission guidelines, editorial processes, etc. to find evidence of a peer-review process.
  • Print journal: Examine the front or back of a printed edition of the journal to find author's or submission instructions that contain evidence of peer-review processes.

If you have questions on these tools or processes, contact your liaison librarian or a UST Libraries reference desk.

Prepared by John Heintz, Reference Librarian, jpheintz@stthomas.edu, (651) 962-4646.
August 2006