Types of Information Sources FAQ

What are "refereed" and "peer reviewed" journal articles?

Refereed articles are normally assumed to be substantial works of scholarship which have gone through a peer-reviewing process before being published in a scholarly journal for a scholarly audience. Peer-reviewing means that the paper is submitted to experts in the field for assessment (much like a thesis) before being accepted for publication, or rejected. Remember that not all articles published in refereed journals are themselves refereed.

Examples of articles likely to have been peer-reviewed include communications of (and commentaries on) original research, critical scholarly texts, and reviews of a field of research. See Types of Information Sources for a more detailed explanation.

How do I find peer reviewed journals

There is no single comprehensive and accurate source where you can identify all peer-reviewed journals. The following are some of the methods you can use:

• the journal's editorial statements or instructions to authors (either in the journal itself or on the publisher's website).

• Check online databases to see if they allow you to restrict your search to peer-reviewed journals.

• Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (see below)

• Register of Refereed Journals (DEST List) (see below)

Journal Citation Reports

You can also look for a specific title on the ISI Master Journal List as all journals indexed by ISI are peer reviewed (see The Thomson Scientific Journal Selection Process).

Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory

1. 1.

   from the Library & Computing Services homepage select Databases and then Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (don't forget to log in via remote access if you are off campus)

2. 2.

   select Advanced Search to find journals on a topic/subject area

3. 3.

   enter a keyword that describes your area of research in Subject.

4. 4.

   choose Refereed or Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and Active to narrow your search to currently published peer reviewed journals only

5. 5.

   select Search

You will see a list of peer reviewed journals in your subject area. It may be necessary to refine the search if you have too many or too few journals. You can review your search by entering different keywords or by adding more terms.

Register of Refereed Journals (DEST List)

This list is available from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education Science and Training (DEST). Following consultation with the Higher Education Sector, the department no longer maintains the Register of Refereed Journals. The Register (now closed) will remain available for Higher Education Providers to consult when determining whether a journal satisfies the Higher Education Research Data Collection peer-review requirements.

What is the difference between Primary, Secondary and Tertiary sources?

Primary: these are original materials which have not been filtered through interpretation, condensation, or evaluation by a second party; for example journal articles, reports, patents, theses, diaries, letters, photographs, poems.

Secondary: information about primary, or original, information which has been modified, selected, or rearranged for a specific purpose or audience. It is not always easy to discern the difference between primary and secondary sources. Examples include biographies, histories, monographs, review articles, textbooks, and any index or bibliography used to locate primary sources.

Tertiary: these consist of information which is a distillation and collection of primary and secondary sources. Twice removed from the original, they include encyclopedias, fact books and almanacs, guides and handbooks. Some secondary sources such as indexing and abstracting tools can also be considered tertiary sources.

See Types of Information Sourcesfor a more detailed explanation.