Peer review is a process that research articles and some literature reviews go through before being published.
The process is used to assess the quality of a submitted manuscript.
Independent experts/researchers within the field review the submitted manuscripts for originality, validity, and significance.
If a journal is rejected for publication the reviewers (also known as referees) will generally provide notes to the author(s).
The authors would need to address the issues presented in the notes prior to resubmitting the manuscript for a revaluation.
A common peer-review type is known as double-blind peer review. In this type neither the author(s) or reviewers known the identities of each other.
You may find out if and what type of peer-review process is being used by a particular journal by going to the journal's website submission guidelines page. For example here is the submission guideline page for Child Development.
Please note that not all articles published in peer-reviewed journals are peer-reviewed. Only empirical or theoretical research studies and some literature reviews (e.g. meta-analysis) are peer-reviewed.
How to Identify a Peer Review Article
Modern Empirical and Theoretical research studies are organized and consist of similar sections:
Introduction
Background
Literature Review
Research Questions
Methodology (also Methods, or Methods and Materials)
Participants
Steps followed by the researchers
Results
Raw data is presented in the form of graphs, tables, or charts
Discussion
Results interpreted in light of the Research Questions
Discusses how findings affect the current understanding of the field
Limitations of the study
Area for future research
References
Full reference of all papers cited within the text, appendices, figures, or tables
HSML and Social Work Academic Journals
Below is a list of important academic journals that report research related to Child Development and Family Studies. These journals can be searched individually or found through a search using the Ebsco EDS.
Trade journals, intended for specific industries, often report on recent research, practical articles, equipment, legislation, and industry news. Unlike peer-reviewed journals, they lack rigorous peer review.
Popular publications, such as newspapers and magazines, are designed for a general audience. While lacking the depth of academic journals, they offer valuable insights into societal trends and potential research topics. Newspapers are typically daily or weekly, with shorter articles, while magazines are often weekly or monthly, featuring longer articles. Popular publications rarely include detailed references.
Rarely do the articles published in popular publications include detailed references.
