Peer review

A check that most scholarly journals use before publishing: outside experts in the same field assess a manuscript, and the editor decides using their feedback.

When an author submits a manuscript, the journal’s editor first checks that it fits the journal. Then it is sent to reviewers, usually specialists in the same field, who comment on its quality, validity and originality. The editor uses their reports to accept the paper, ask for changes or reject it. This is also called refereeing, and journals that use it are called peer-reviewed or refereed.

Review models differ. In single-blind review the reviewers know who the authors are, but the authors don’t know who the reviewers are. In double-blind review both sides are hidden. In open review identities are shown.

What peer review does not mean.

• Not everything in a peer-reviewed journal is reviewed. Letters, opinion pieces and book reviews often aren’t.
• A paper that passed review can still be wrong, and some are later retracted.
• All peer-reviewed publications are scholarly, but not all scholarly publications are peer reviewed. Preprints, reports and theses usually are not.

Your instructor may require peer-reviewed sources. Many library databases let you limit results to them, and a journal’s own website usually describes its review process.