Q. How do I know if an article is peer-reviewed?

Peer-reviewed (or refereed) scholarly articles are based on research.  They relate to research studies, methodology and/or theory.  They are usually lengthy articles divided into sections that may include a literature review, a description of the methodology used in the study, data presentation (statistical charts, tables, graphs ), a discussion and conclusions.  (Note that if the article is based on qualitative methodology, the data presentation section may not contain numerical data, but will rather be text-dense).   You will also see an abstract, in-text citations, and an extensive bibliography (or reference list).  The author's affiliations are listed as well as contact information.

If you have located an article in a library database, you can click on the link to the journal the article is contained in to get to more information about the journal.  Information indicating that articles in the journal are peer-reviewed (or refereed) is usually included here.

To locate peer-reviewed articles in library databases:

• Click on the Browse the A - Z List oF Databases located below the Discovery search box, on the library database: https://libguides.hofstra.edu/hulhome  
• As implied, the databases are listed in alphabetical order.  You can access databases either by subject area or alphabetically by name of database.
• Many of these databases provide a box that you can check to search for peer-reviewed articles (Academic Search Premier, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, PsychInfo, ERIC are few examples).  Some databases only contain peer-reviewed articles (JStor, Project Muse, Oxford Academic Journals, Cambridge Journals Online, and Science Direct).
• Often, databases will include a filter for "peer reivewed."
• DISCOVERY system will search across most of our databases in a single search.  Once in the system, you can filter your search results to peer-reviewed journal articles by using the filters on the left side of the screen: https://hofstra.on.worldcat.org/advancedsearch.