LibGuides: FYS: Baking Your Way to Success: Peer Review

Peer Review

Often times you might hear your professors tell you that they want an article that is either

peer reviewed;

academic;

scholarly; and/or

refereed

These are all actually the same thing.

Check out this short video to learn more about what peer review means:

Popular vs. Trade vs. Scholarly

Criteria	Popular Magazine	Trade Publication	Scholarly Journal
Audience	Anyone	People who works in the field	Academics, scholars, and those studying in the field
Author	Journalists, staff writers, or freelance writers Paid	Staff writers, industry specialists, or vender representatives Paid	Experts or specialists (often PhD) Unpaid
Content	General interest Popular culture General news Entertainment	Industry related news Trends Techniques Product reviews Statistical data Upcoming events	Original research (e.g., scientific experiments, surveys, and research studies) Critical analysis of topics relative to the profession Charts, diagrams, and/or tables showing data or experiment results (often included)
Advertisements?	Almost always and in high quantities	Advertising almost always present; ads relate to relevant industry, trade, or organization	Occasionally, but highly specialized and specific to scholarly discipline
Editorial Review	Professional editors Paid	Professional editors Paid	Journal editorial board and peer reviewers Unpaid
References/Works Cited?	Rarely	Sometimes	Almost always

Popular Sources
Works that are published by staff or freelance writers who do not have to have their work peer reviewed before publication. These can be useful for community perspectives or popular opinion as examples in a paper, though they should be supported by more scholarly evidence.

vs.

Scholarly Sources
Works that have gone through a more detailed approval process for publication - usually peer review for articles or through an editor at a University Press. Because they have gone through editors and/or peer review, these tend to be less likely to contain mistakes and are written by experts in the field for others researching in the same field.