Finding Articles in the Databases: Why Use Peer Reviewed Journals?

Because these articles generally contain the best (and often the most current) information on a given subject. 

Academic and scholarly journal articles must be: 

• written by scholars conducting and reporting on research on their particular topic and then
• reviewed by a panel of the author's peers (i.e., peer-reviewed by other experts in the field) before the article is published.

The review process means the article must meet high standards of the CRAAP METHOD:

• Currency (meaning the information is current at the time of publication),
• Relevance (meaning the article is highly relevant to the subject it addresses, without commercial subtext or other issues distracting from the topic),
• Accuracy (meaning the article has been checked for any bias or missing/misleading information),
• Authenticity (meaning the author's credentials have been verified and their cited sources confirmed), and 
• Purpose (meaning the author must be free of commercial motivation for their writing; it must be informational and/or educational in its purpose).

This process is meant to ensure the integrity of the journal and the quality of the article.

               THIS RESEARCH OR "LIBGUIDE" WAS PRODUCED BY THE LIBRARIANS OF MONROE UNIVERSITY             

    EMAIL: library@monroeu.edu -- Bronx Campus (646) 393-8333 / New Rochelle Campus (914)-740-6437