Peer review is a process where articles are submitted by the journal editor to be read and evaluated by experts in the field before being published. Reviewers recommend whether or not to publish and make comments and suggestions which authors must address before the article is accepted for publication. The goal is to maintain a high level of quality in articles that are published.
How can you tell if a journal is peer-reviewed?
Check the introductory and descriptive material in the journal:
Does it state that the journal is peer-reviewed?
Does it refer to or describe the review procedure?
Does it give instructions for reviewers?
If a database includes this feature, limit your search results to peer-reviewed sources,
Note: not all articles in a peer-reviewed journal are actually peer reviewed. Editorials, letters to the editor, news, and opinion pieces, for example, are not peer-reviewed.
This research guide from Boston College offers current information on key factors that need to be considered when evaluating the overall quality of a journal. Traditional measures of quality, such as peer review and journal reputation are still valued; however, with the rise in open access publishing, article level metrics are also being considered Learn the strengths and weaknesses of Impact factor (IF), Eigenfactor, SJR Indicator, Google Scholar Metrics and a host of Altmetrics.
Research for your thesis will focus on the primary literature. In the sciences, the primary literature presents the immediate results of research activities, written by those who conducted the research. It often includes analysis of data collected in the field or laboratory. Primary literature presents original research and/or new scientific discoveries.
While patents, dissertations, and other documents report original research, journal articles are the most widely used primary sources in the sciences.
The secondary literature in the sciences summarizes and synthesizes the primary literature. It is usually broader and less current than primary literature. Since most information sources in the secondary literature contain extensive bibliographies, they can be useful for finding more information on a topic.
Literature review articles
Books/book chapters
There are many types of scientific documents written for various purposes. A few of the main ones are described below. For your thesis, the most important sources are journal articles.
Source content adapted from University of Pittsburgh Libraries' Biology Guide: https://pitt.libguides.com/biology