Picture credit: Keith Harmon
It is critical to evaluate your sources. Your professors expect you to gather high-quality information that comes from authoritative sources. Therefore you need to carefully evaluate every information source before including it in your papers, projects, and presentations.
A credible source is a trustworthy source. Here are the ways to check a source for credibility:
Some people refer to the above criteria as the CRAAP test.
An academic journal is a type of periodical that scholars use to share new research. Each issue of an academic journal contains new content, and may include editorials, opinion pieces, reviews of books or software, articles that review existing literature on a special topic, and articles that describe an original research project undertaken by the author.
Peer Review in academic journals is a process that helps ensure that quality of that research. Peer reviewed articles may also be described as refereed articles or scholarly articles.
The flowchart below illustrates the lifecycle of a peer reviewed article.
Not sure if your article is peer reviewed? Look for these clues:
Author. The author's credentials & institution should be listed. Authors of peer reviewed articles typically have graduate degrees and are a faculty member at a university.
Abstract. Many peer reviewed articles begin with an abstract, which is a paragraph summarizing the research.
Audience. Peer reviewed articles are written for scholars, researchers, & students who are knowledgeable about the topic, and likely use specialized terminology.
Purpose. What is the purpose of the article? Does the author want to support findings of a research project, present a case study, make an argument that is supported by evidence or research, etc.?
References. Peer reviewed articles typically include a bibliography that cites other peer reviewed sources.