Scholarly journals (also called academic journals) contain articles written by, and addressed to, experts in a discipline. Scholarly journals present the research of experts in a field, although these journals also often carry opinion pieces or even advertisements unique to the field addressed by the journal. Publication cycles vary for scholarly journals, ranging from yearly to monthly but most frequently they are published bimonthly (every other month) or quarterly.
Peer-reviewed journals (also called refereed or juried journals) send submitted articles to one or more experts for review before deciding to publish them. This review process helps ensure that published articles reflect solid scholarship in a field. Most often, the experts reviewing an article make critical comments on the text, comments that the author must incorporate into the article before its publication.
While not all scholarly journals are peer-reviewed, it is usually safe to assume that a peer-reviewed journal is also scholarly.
Many of the journals indexed in specialized databases are scholarly but those databases do not tell you whether a journal is peer reviewed or not.
To find out if a journal is peer reviewed look at the submission process on their website for authors.
You can also ask a reference librarian.
These are a great way to get an overview of your topic. Try searching through Annual Reviews, then try your search in any database and use the word "review" as part of your search. UC Library Search and Academic Search Complete have a number of review articles in them. Note that some reviews are actually book reviews. One indicator of this is page length. A review article will usually be at least ten pages, while a book review article will usually be a page or two.
Perform your search, then select "Peer Reviewed Journals" under "Show Only" on the left side of the results screen.
UCSB E-Journals:
Evaluate Journals and Find Impact Factors
Locating Articles:
Click the button to find the full text of an article, either online or in print on the library shelves. If the library does not have access to the article you need, you can request the article to be sent to you through interlibrary loan.
If you already have a citation, first, use Google Scholar and search for the title of the article. Look for the link to the pdf or Get it at UC button on the right side. You may first need to Connect Google Scholar to UCSB Library Full-Text Resources. If you do not see the article, use the Citation Linker where you should see if the UCSB Library has access to it or use the Request function to request a copy through Interlibrary Loan.
Scholarly, multi-disciplinary database covering thousands of journals and other publications. Includes full-text access to peer-reviewed journals, and indexing/abstracts for magazines, monographs, reports, and conference proceedings.
Indexes publications and resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including plant and animal sciences, forestry, entomology, soil and water resources, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, agricultural products, alternative farming practices, and food and nutrition. National Agricultural Library Search is the USDA National Agricultural Library’s main search tool.
Includes abstracts and citations from over 4,000 journals and other sources including conference proceedings, reports, monographs, books, and government publications.
Provides the worldwide scholarly community with a useful and intelligent synthesis of the primary research literature for a broad spectrum of scholarly disciplines. Each year, Annual Reviews critically reviews the most significant primary research literature to guide you to the principal contributions of the field and help you keep up to date in your area of research.
Covers all aspects of aquatic science including aquaculture, biology, conservation, environmental quality, fisheries, freshwater environments, limnology, marine biotechnology, marine environments, meteorology, oceanography, policy and legislation, and wildlife management.
Provides comprehensive coverage of biological science fields including animal behavior, aquatic life and fisheries, chemoreception, biochemistry, ecology, plant science, toxicology, virology, microbiology, immunology genetics, health and safety science, oncogenes, entomology, and endocrinology neuroscience.
Provides a unique aggregation of high-impact bioscience research journals, featuring timely content on a wide-array of today’s most pressing topics, including global warming, stem cell research, ecological and biodiversity conservation.
Covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.
Full-text research database for communication studies. Offers hundreds of top communication journals, magazines and other sources covering all related disciplines, including media studies, linguistics, speech pathology, rhetoric and discourse.
Combines Communication and Mass Media Complete and Communication Abstracts
Comprehensive bibliographic database of scientific and technical engineering research available, covering all engineering disciplines. Includes citations and abstracts from engineering journals and conference proceedings.
This interdisciplinary collection of multimedia materials brings together primary source documents, archives, films, text and photographs to support the study of key environmental challenges and events from the 20th and 21st centuries, including climate change, water/air pollution, biodiversity, conservation, agriculture, deforestation and more.
Covers education-related literature. Provides access to ERIC documents and journal articles.
A freely accessible site covering 1966 to the present is also available.
Provides citations from journals, serials, maps, theses and dissertations, government publications, books, and reports in the fields of geology and geophysics. Topics include energy sources, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, groundwater pollution, nuclear reactor sites, landslides, and erosion, as well as the history of the earth, the structure of the earth, the study of ore deposits, and geostatistics.
Includes full text of journals and books in a wide range of subject areas. Also includes high-quality primary sources and images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more (including those from Artstor).
Provides access to news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis. Includes 3 primary collections: 1) full-text news sources (U.S. and international) 2) aggregated economic data on businesses, corporations, and industries in the U.S. and abroad; 3) full-text legal documents - U.S. Federal and State court cases, and law reviews.
Comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, including millions of works from thousands of universities.
Provides access to international literature in psychology, the behavioral sciences, and related disciplines from professional journals, book chapters, books, reports, and dissertations. Most citations include abstracts. In addition, there are millions of cited references in journal articles, books, and chapters.
Date Coverage: 1890 - present
Materials Indexed: Book Chapters; Book Reviews; Books; Journal Articles; Technical Reports; Theses & Dissertations
A primary resource for accessing the latest research sponsored in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Draws information from an international selection of thousands of journals and other sources.
Covers thousands of research journals, and extensive collections of conference proceedings and books across hundreds of disciplines.
Web of Science consists of the following databases:
Select "by Subject" to find databases. Use a database that is most recommended in that subject, listed near the top of the options.