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Introduction to library research in the arts: Academic journals and peer review

An introduction to research concepts and techniques for University of Redlands students in fine, literary and performing arts, developed as an Open Educational Resource (OER)

Learning objective

  • Identify elements of peer review that improve the quality and significance of research published in scholarly journals.

Question to consider

What makes a person credible to answer questions about a topic you're studying for class?

Peer Review in Three Minutes

This tutorial created by North Carolina State University Libraries offers a basic overview of peer review.

Activity: Compare editorial policies

The editorial boards of scholarly journals are responsible for establishing peer review practices and maintaining the integrity of the journal's review process.

Journals typically post information about the review process and submission policies on their websites. Authors trying to decide where to submit their scholarly or creative work use these statements to determine which journal is a good fit for them.

As a researcher, you can always look up a journal's website to see if it is peer reviewed and what process they use.

Look over these examples of journals' submission and review policies. How do they compare with what you learned about peer review in the NC State video?

Check your understanding

Key points

  • Peer review is a process for improving the quality and significance of academic research.
  • Peer review relies on the integrity of editors and reviewers to offer constructive feedback and make fair assessments of the quality of the work submitted for review.
  • Academic journals typically post information about their submission and review processes on their website.