Palmer College of Chiropractic

David D. Palmer
Health Sciences Library

Peer-Reviewed Journals

What is a Peer Reviewed Journal?

Peer review is "a process by which something proposed (as for research or publication) is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field" (Merriam-Webster dictionary). In a peer reviewed journal (also called refereed) drafts of articles are critically assessed by other scholars in the author's field or specialty before the article is accepted for publication (Northern Arizona University, Cline Library).

Some article types such as book and article reviews, or other such items may not be peer-reviewed even though they may be in a peer-reviewed journal.

Additional Resources:

• Peer-Reviewed Power Point presentation (Palmer College of Chiropractic)
• Features of Scholarly Journals (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Morris Library)
• What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal? (University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign)

How can I find out if a journal is Peer Reviewed?

There is no one place or resource that lists all peer reviewed journals. Ulrich's International Periodical Directory is the most authoritative source to consult when trying to verify if a journal is peer reviewed.

• Click on Ulrich's Periodical Directory Online (must be accessed on campus, only one concurrent user at a time)

• Search by journal title and hit Submit button

• Title should appear and if it is peer-reviewed (refereed) there will be an icon next to the title

Limiting to Peer Review in Databases

Palmer Health Sciences Library subscribes to many databases that users user filters to limit their searches to only include peer-reviewed results.

More Resources:

• Palmer Health Sciences Library list of databases that offer the peer-review limit

• Examples of how to limit to peer reviewed or refereed in MANTIS, ICL, and EBSCOhost

Selective Lists of Peer Reviewed Journal Titles

The journals on the following lists are not comprehensive of all peer reviewed chiropractic and other subject related journals, but provide alphabetical listings of journal titles.

• List of selective chiropractic and other subject related peer-reviewed journals (shows what database they are in) 

• MANTIS database  journals indexed list (click on the individual journal title to see if they are peer-reviewed)

•  Index to Chiropractic Literature (ICL) Journals Index List

If you need further assistance verifying if a journal or article is peer-reviewed or refereed, please stop by the Reference Desk, email, or call (563)-884-5896.