How to identify academic resources

Scholarly journal v. Popular magazine

Sometimes lecturers insist students locate and use information only from scholarly or peer reviewed journals. If that is the case, use the databases to search the journals specified by the lecturer in the Unit Outline. Some of the Monash University Library databases allow searches to be limited to peer reviewed or refereed material. Use this function with caution as acceptable scholarly resources may be excluded. Remember, some quite scholarly journals and conferences are not peer reviewed. Also, even though a journal title has 'peer review' status, it does not mean that every piece of the publication will have been peer reviewed, eg., editorial opinion pieces, book reviews, short news articles, etc. This means that you need to carefully examine each article. Evaluating resources is a necessary part of the research process and a way for students to exercise critical thinking skills. Use this checklist to help determine whether a source is suitable.