Guides: POL 325: Congress and the Presidency: Databases

What Does Peer Reviewed Mean?

An article is considered "peer-reviewed" if it has been reviewed by scholars and professionals within the field of study for the article. This process involves reviewing how the article was written and the research involved. The review process involves an extensive exchange between the review panel and the author(s), and the article can only be considered for publication in a scholarly journal once it has been approved.

Ask yourself the following questions about the article you are viewing to determine if it is peer-reviewed:

Does the article contain an abstract?
Does the article contain a full bibliography?
Are the author(s') credentials easily identified?
Does the journal contain little to no advertising?
Is the language of the article intended for an informed
audience?
Is the article lengthy?
Does the journal description include the words "peer-reviewed" or "editorial process"?

Finding Peer-Reviewed Articles

Many of our databases make the process of locating peer-reviewed information very easy for us by providing a "peer-reviewed" search filter on the search screen. This search filter is automatically selected in our EBSCO databases.

Peer-Reviewed Sources
Use this information sheet for criteria to look for in a peer-reviewed article.

What Databases Should I Use?

BEST BET DATABASES
Start your search with these library databases!

HeinOnline
HeinOnline Academic includes more than 100 million pages of multidisciplinary content in more than 100 subject areas, including history, political science, criminal justice, religious studies, international relations, women’s studies, pre-law, and many more. With more historical content than any other database, HeinOnline provides access to 300+ years of information on political development and the complete history of the creation of government and legal systems around the world.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A collection of core scholarly journals, many going back to the first volume. Emphasis is on back issue coverage and does not include the current 3-5 years, unless Gordon has a current subscription to the journal. JSTOR provides long term preservation for journals.

OTHER HELPFUL DATABASES

Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. Includes extensive coverage in key subject areas such as biology, chemistry, economics, environmental science, history, marketing, political science, and psychology.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statistics portal integrating statistics and other quantitative data on over 80,000 topics including media, business, finance, politics, and more.

Evaluating Web Content

Google Scholar is a great starting place for initial research. Unlike a regular Google search, Google Scholar attempts to connect you with more "academic" content then information typically found on the web.

As with any web searching important evaluation work will still need to be done on each of the resources you are looking at. Use the following criteria to evaluation the information from Google Scholar or other web searches.

AUTHORSHIP
Websites can be produced by individuals or organizations.
Reputable websites will have authorship information easily visible,
including both the authors' names and credentials.
ACCURACY
To use information in your research it must be judged accurate and
verifiable before use.
CURRENCY
Look for the publication date of the website, frequent updates, and
dates for specific articles.
CONTENT
Does the information provided by the website meet your research need?
PURPOSE
A website's purpose is the reason it was created. This should be very clear.
Note that some websites might present opinions as facts but they are
actually attempting to sell a product or persuade you.

Evaluation Web Resources
Use this information sheet for criteria to look for in evaluating web articles. Including a list of evaluation questions.