Geography (UNH Durham)

You will be using scholarly and peer-reviewed articles.

• Scholarly (aka academic) articles are written by and for scholars and researchers - this means you!
• Peer reviewed (aka refereed) articles have been checked by other scholars BEFORE they're published.

Most databases will tell you if it's an article from a peer reviewed journal - see Publication Type near bottom of article information.

Not all articles in a peer-reviewed journal are peer-reviewed. You can check!

• Most databases have a "peer review" filter. If you use that filter and the article still shows up, it is most likely peer reviewed!
• Check the article information page in the database. It will sometimes state "peer-reviewed".
• Still unsure? Check the "About Us" page on the journal website - it will tell you if the journal is peer-reviewed, what type of articles they accept for peer review, and describe their peer-review process.

Different types of articles are written for different reasons!

• Original research or experimentation: shows original research using EMPIRICAL evidence, data collected by the article's authors themselves or by others (for example, US Census data) (Example)
• Reviews of literature on the topic: uses SYNTHESIZED evidence to create a critical survey and analysis of what is currently published on a specific topic - includes narrative literature reviews, systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis (Example)
• Articles that create or explore a theory, framework, or model of thinking: use INFORMATION about other theories or frameworks to describe development of a theoretical approach, compare theories, or discuss issues surrounding a theory (Example)
• Opinions/perspective articles: these comment on a topic and require no original research. They may appear as an article in a column, editorial, letter to the editor, etc. (Example)