are dissertations considered peer reviewed

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FAQ: Can I use a dissertation as a scholarly source for my research?

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Last Updated: Oct 16, 2023 Views: 15632

When you use the Multi-Search, you may see dissertations and theses in your search results, even when you apply the “Peer Reviewed (Scholarly)” limiter to your search. This is because even though dissertations are not peer-reviewed (published in peer-reviewed journals), they are often considered scholarly because they were written for an academic audience. For more information on the difference between scholarly and peer-reviewed sources, see the FAQ: What’s the difference between a scholarly and peer reviewed journal?

Dissertations and theses have value as research material, and they are an important form of scholarly communication. Here are a few reasons why:

• They may reveal emerging trends and voices in a field of study.
• Because of their length, they frequently offer more substantial coverage of a topic than a traditional journal article can.
• They might be the only research or literature on an uncommon or niche topic.
• They often have up-to-date and thorough literature reviews.
• They almost always have extensive bibliographies of important sources in the field of study.
• In the sciences, they may have additional datasets, graphs, and field data that is sometimes excluded from future article publications by the author.

If your assignment requires you to use articles from peer-reviewed journals, then a dissertation is not a good fit as one of your sources. However, you can certainly comb through the References or Bibliography at the end of the dissertation to see if any of the sources they used might qualify for your research. You can then use the instructions in this FAQ to see if we have the full text for those articles in our library:  How do I find a specific article in the library?

If your assignment calls for scholarly sources, a dissertation may be a great contribution to your resources. Remember that all sources should be evaluated to determine not just if they are scholarly, but whether they are relevant and current enough to be used in your research. You should check with your professor if you have any questions or concerns about your ability to use dissertations as sources for your research assignment.

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Are dissertations and theses considered scholarly or peer-reviewed resources?

Dissertations and theses may be considered scholarly sources since they are closely supervised by a dissertation committee made up of scholars, are directed at an academic audience, are extensively researched, follow research methodology, and are cited in other scholarly work.

However, dissertations are still considered student work and are  not  peer-reviewed. Always clarify with your instructor or chair as to whether you can include and cite dissertations and theses in your research.

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Everything You Need To Know

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Very simply an article is peer reviewed if it has been read and scrutinized by scholars or other researchers in the field prior to publication. Think of it as quality control for research and publication.

The article and the journal where it is published also meet certain research and publishing standards for that particular discipline.

Other terms for  peer reviewed  are  refereed  or  juried .

Official Definitions:

The Oxford English Dictionary (2019) defines peer review as "To subject to, or evaluate by, peer review; to referee (a paper)" and peer reviewed as "That is, or has been, subject to peer review; (of a journal) that incorporates a system of peer review."

Bibliography

"peer review, v."  OED Online , Oxford University Press, September 2019, www.oed.com/view/Entry/237423. Accessed 29 October 2019.

"peer-reviewed, adj."  OED Online , Oxford University Press, September 2019, www.oed.com/view/Entry/263622. Accessed 29 October 2019.

Here are some general characteristics that usually apply to peer reviewed journals and their articles:

• Introduction & literature review
• Theory or background
• Methods (how I did my research)
• Conclusion and/or discussion
• Tone or language of the article will reflect the subject discipline for which it is written. It assumes some scholarly background on the part of the reader
• Most scholarly articles report on original research or experimentation
• May be accompanied by supporting charts and diagrams, but there may be few pictures
• Journal will have little or no advertisement

Is it peer reviewed? How do you know? We have a few ways to sort your results, or identify if your specific result is peer reviewed .

1. Sort your results: Most of our databases have a feature that allows you to limit or refine your search results to only those that are peer-reviewed. Look for that option on the search screen.  Pro tip: some database providers have a more lenient definition of peer reviewed , if you're not sure check with a librarian or your professor.

2. I'm not sure if this article or journal is peer reviewed :

You can look up the journal by title or ISSN number in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. Once you locate the journal, Ulrich's will tell you, by having an image of a referee shirt or not,  if a journal is peer reviewed or not.   Below, you can see that of the six results, the first and fifth result are not peer reviewed and the second, third, fourth, and sixth are peer reviewed.

• If you want to see if a particular journal is peer reviewed, go to  Ulrich's Periodical Directory  (you can get there from the Database A to Z list as well).  
• Do a search by Journal Title (here we used "Journal of Anthropology") to see if a journal is peer reviewed.  There will be an image of a referee jersey next to the title if it is peer reviewed. 
• In the below example, the search for "Journal of Anthropology"  UNLV  is not a peer reviewed journal, but  The Australian Journal of Anthropology  is (both electronic and print).

Popular magazines are those that are published with the general reader in mind. The articles generally assume no prior knowledge on the part of the reader and are written by journalists or editors. The goal may be to inform, entertain or persuade the reader.

Popular Magazines may have lots of pictures and they will have advertisements.

Some examples:

• Consumer Reports
• Mademoiselle
• Runners World
• Sports Illustrated

Trade publications are often written by and for professionals within a field or industry. The publication may cover emerging trends, current news and new products. The articles may be "how to" in nature or give practical advise for practitioners in a field. They are usually not academic in nature and are not peer reviewed . The publication will often contain advertisements and photos.   They can look academic, so be sure to review sources carefully.

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The Process of Peer Review

Scholarly (and Peer Reviewed) VS Popular

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Are Dissertataions Peer-Reviewed?

No. While dissertations are closely supervised by a dissertation committee made up of scholars, they are still considered student work.

Dissertations are often included in scholarly writing, although they are used sparingly. If you are unsure if you can use a dissertation in your annotated bibliography, talk with your instructor.

Verify Peer Review

Check whether a journal is peer reviewed with  Ulrich's Periodicals Directory .

Search for the  title of the journal (not article)  in the search box:

If the journal has a referee shirt, then it is peer-reviewed.  Double-check each journal title - your instructor will be checking also!

All three journal titles are the exact same publication.  Note that the only difference is that they are in different formats (print, online, and microform).

Check The Journal's Website

Journal websites will typically discuss editorial processes, including peer review.

This information is often listed in the following areas:

• editorial policies
• instructions for authors
• submission guidelines

A simple Google search for the journal will usually locate the journal's website.

Examples of Editorial Policies:

• APA's review policy for authors
• Management Science Journal's Submission Guidelines
• Journal of the American Medical Association Instruction for Authors
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Scholarly or Peer-reviewed Journals 

A scholarly or peer-reviewed journal contains articles written by experts in a particular field. 

journals, in most cases:

• use scholarly or technical language.
• include a full bibliography of sources cited in the article. 
• are often peer-reviewed (sometimes called "referred"). 

View the anatomy of an article to see the typical components. 

• Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Find articles in any subject or academic discipline.
• GALE ACADEMIC ONEFILE This link opens in a new window Find scholarly/peer-reviewed and popular journal publications.

News and Magazines (Popular Sources)

News and magazine articles can help introduce you to a topic and see how the topic is being discussed in society. 

Articles in popular sources: 

• rarely have a references section.
• often contain images and advertisements. 
• may contain an argument, opinion, or analysis of an issue.   

Professional or Trade Journals

Trade publications communicate news and trends in a particular field.

Articles in trade journals:

• use the language (and jargon) of the field. 

Books and eBooks 

Academic books and eBooks: 

• summarize research or issues related to its topic. 
• eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window Find thousands of academic ebooks in all subjects.

Conference Proceedings

Conference proceedings are compilations of papers, research, and information presented at professional conferences. 

peer -reviewed and are often the first publication of research that later will appear in a scholarly or peer-reviewed article.   

Government Documents

scientific and technical information , statistics, transcripts of hearings, white papers, consumer information, maps and more. 

• HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window As a digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the immense collections of partner institutions. HathiTrust was conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of California system to establish a repository for these universities to archive and share their digitized collections.

Theses and Dissertations

review of an academic committee but are not considered "peer-reviewed." 

• Dissertations and Theses @ UNI This link opens in a new window This collection contains many dissertations and theses written by graduate students at the University of Northern Iowa. Many of them can be accessed by anyone worldwide.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new window Openly available theses and dissertations from over 1000 colleges, universities, and research institutions.
• Last Updated: Apr 4, 2022 10:28 AM
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• What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples

Published on December 17, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Peer review, sometimes referred to as refereeing , is the process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Using strict criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decides whether to accept each submission for publication.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to the stringent process they go through before publication.

There are various types of peer review. The main difference between them is to what extent the authors, reviewers, and editors know each other’s identities. The most common types are:

• Single-blind review
• Double-blind review
• Triple-blind review

Collaborative review

Open review.

Relatedly, peer assessment is a process where your peers provide you with feedback on something you’ve written, based on a set of criteria or benchmarks from an instructor. They then give constructive feedback, compliments, or guidance to help you improve your draft.

Table of contents

What is the purpose of peer review, types of peer review, the peer review process, providing feedback to your peers, peer review example, advantages of peer review, criticisms of peer review, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about peer reviews.

Many academic fields use peer review, largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the manuscript. For this reason, academic journals are among the most credible sources you can refer to.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure.

Peer assessment is often used in the classroom as a pedagogical tool. Both receiving feedback and providing it are thought to enhance the learning process, helping students think critically and collaboratively.

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Depending on the journal, there are several types of peer review.

Single-blind peer review

The most common type of peer review is single-blind (or single anonymized) review . Here, the names of the reviewers are not known by the author.

While this gives the reviewers the ability to give feedback without the possibility of interference from the author, there has been substantial criticism of this method in the last few years. Many argue that single-blind reviewing can lead to poaching or intellectual theft or that anonymized comments cause reviewers to be too harsh.

Double-blind peer review

In double-blind (or double anonymized) review , both the author and the reviewers are anonymous.

Arguments for double-blind review highlight that this mitigates any risk of prejudice on the side of the reviewer, while protecting the nature of the process. In theory, it also leads to manuscripts being published on merit rather than on the reputation of the author.

Triple-blind peer review

While triple-blind (or triple anonymized) review —where the identities of the author, reviewers, and editors are all anonymized—does exist, it is difficult to carry out in practice.

Proponents of adopting triple-blind review for journal submissions argue that it minimizes potential conflicts of interest and biases. However, ensuring anonymity is logistically challenging, and current editing software is not always able to fully anonymize everyone involved in the process.

In collaborative review , authors and reviewers interact with each other directly throughout the process. However, the identity of the reviewer is not known to the author. This gives all parties the opportunity to resolve any inconsistencies or contradictions in real time, and provides them a rich forum for discussion. It can mitigate the need for multiple rounds of editing and minimize back-and-forth.

Collaborative review can be time- and resource-intensive for the journal, however. For these collaborations to occur, there has to be a set system in place, often a technological platform, with staff monitoring and fixing any bugs or glitches.

Lastly, in open review , all parties know each other’s identities throughout the process. Often, open review can also include feedback from a larger audience, such as an online forum, or reviewer feedback included as part of the final published product.

While many argue that greater transparency prevents plagiarism or unnecessary harshness, there is also concern about the quality of future scholarship if reviewers feel they have to censor their comments.

In general, the peer review process includes the following steps:

• First, the author submits the manuscript to the editor.
• Reject the manuscript and send it back to the author, or
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s)
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made.
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

In an effort to be transparent, many journals are now disclosing who reviewed each article in the published product. There are also increasing opportunities for collaboration and feedback, with some journals allowing open communication between reviewers and authors.

It can seem daunting at first to conduct a peer review or peer assessment. If you’re not sure where to start, there are several best practices you can use.

Summarize the argument in your own words

Summarizing the main argument helps the author see how their argument is interpreted by readers, and gives you a jumping-off point for providing feedback. If you’re having trouble doing this, it’s a sign that the argument needs to be clearer, more concise, or worded differently.

If the author sees that you’ve interpreted their argument differently than they intended, they have an opportunity to address any misunderstandings when they get the manuscript back.

Separate your feedback into major and minor issues

It can be challenging to keep feedback organized. One strategy is to start out with any major issues and then flow into the more minor points. It’s often helpful to keep your feedback in a numbered list, so the author has concrete points to refer back to.

Major issues typically consist of any problems with the style, flow, or key points of the manuscript. Minor issues include spelling errors, citation errors, or other smaller, easy-to-apply feedback.

Tip: Try not to focus too much on the minor issues. If the manuscript has a lot of typos, consider making a note that the author should address spelling and grammar issues, rather than going through and fixing each one.

The best feedback you can provide is anything that helps them strengthen their argument or resolve major stylistic issues.

Give the type of feedback that you would like to receive

No one likes being criticized, and it can be difficult to give honest feedback without sounding overly harsh or critical. One strategy you can use here is the “compliment sandwich,” where you “sandwich” your constructive criticism between two compliments.

Be sure you are giving concrete, actionable feedback that will help the author submit a successful final draft. While you shouldn’t tell them exactly what they should do, your feedback should help them resolve any issues they may have overlooked.

As a rule of thumb, your feedback should be:

• Easy to understand
• Constructive

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Below is a brief annotated research example. You can view examples of peer feedback by hovering over the highlighted sections.

Influence of phone use on sleep

Studies show that teens from the US are getting less sleep than they were a decade ago (Johnson, 2019) . On average, teens only slept for 6 hours a night in 2021, compared to 8 hours a night in 2011. Johnson mentions several potential causes, such as increased anxiety, changed diets, and increased phone use.

The current study focuses on the effect phone use before bedtime has on the number of hours of sleep teens are getting.

For this study, a sample of 300 teens was recruited using social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The first week, all teens were allowed to use their phone the way they normally would, in order to obtain a baseline.

The sample was then divided into 3 groups:

• Group 1 was not allowed to use their phone before bedtime.
• Group 2 used their phone for 1 hour before bedtime.
• Group 3 used their phone for 3 hours before bedtime.

All participants were asked to go to sleep around 10 p.m. to control for variation in bedtime . In the morning, their Fitbit showed the number of hours they’d slept. They kept track of these numbers themselves for 1 week.

Two independent t tests were used in order to compare Group 1 and Group 2, and Group 1 and Group 3. The first t test showed no significant difference ( p > .05) between the number of hours for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 2 ( M = 7.0, SD = 0.8). The second t test showed a significant difference ( p < .01) between the average difference for Group 1 ( M = 7.8, SD = 0.6) and Group 3 ( M = 6.1, SD = 1.5).

This shows that teens sleep fewer hours a night if they use their phone for over an hour before bedtime, compared to teens who use their phone for 0 to 1 hours.

Peer review is an established and hallowed process in academia, dating back hundreds of years. It provides various fields of study with metrics, expectations, and guidance to ensure published work is consistent with predetermined standards.

• Protects the quality of published research

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. Any content that raises red flags for reviewers can be closely examined in the review stage, preventing plagiarized or duplicated research from being published.

• Gives you access to feedback from experts in your field

Peer review represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field and to improve your writing through their feedback and guidance. Experts with knowledge about your subject matter can give you feedback on both style and content, and they may also suggest avenues for further research that you hadn’t yet considered.

• Helps you identify any weaknesses in your argument

Peer review acts as a first defense, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process. This way, you’ll end up with a more robust, more cohesive article.

While peer review is a widely accepted metric for credibility, it’s not without its drawbacks.

• Reviewer bias

The more transparent double-blind system is not yet very common, which can lead to bias in reviewing. A common criticism is that an excellent paper by a new researcher may be declined, while an objectively lower-quality submission by an established researcher would be accepted.

• Delays in publication

The thoroughness of the peer review process can lead to significant delays in publishing time. Research that was current at the time of submission may not be as current by the time it’s published. There is also high risk of publication bias , where journals are more likely to publish studies with positive findings than studies with negative findings.

• Risk of human error

By its very nature, peer review carries a risk of human error. In particular, falsification often cannot be detected, given that reviewers would have to replicate entire experiments to ensure the validity of results.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Measures of central tendency
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Thematic analysis
• Discourse analysis
• Cohort study
• Ethnography

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Conformity bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Availability heuristic
• Attrition bias
• Social desirability bias

Peer review is a process of evaluating submissions to an academic journal. Utilizing rigorous criteria, a panel of reviewers in the same subject area decide whether to accept each submission for publication. For this reason, academic journals are often considered among the most credible sources you can use in a research project– provided that the journal itself is trustworthy and well-regarded.

In general, the peer review process follows the following steps: 

• Reject the manuscript and send it back to author, or 
• Send it onward to the selected peer reviewer(s) 
• Next, the peer review process occurs. The reviewer provides feedback, addressing any major or minor issues with the manuscript, and gives their advice regarding what edits should be made. 
• Lastly, the edited manuscript is sent back to the author. They input the edits, and resubmit it to the editor for publication.

Peer review can stop obviously problematic, falsified, or otherwise untrustworthy research from being published. It also represents an excellent opportunity to get feedback from renowned experts in your field. It acts as a first defense, helping you ensure your argument is clear and that there are no gaps, vague terms, or unanswered questions for readers who weren’t involved in the research process.

Peer-reviewed articles are considered a highly credible source due to this stringent process they go through before publication.

Many academic fields use peer review , largely to determine whether a manuscript is suitable for publication. Peer review enhances the credibility of the published manuscript.

However, peer review is also common in non-academic settings. The United Nations, the European Union, and many individual nations use peer review to evaluate grant applications. It is also widely used in medical and health-related fields as a teaching or quality-of-care measure. 

A credible source should pass the CRAAP test  and follow these guidelines:

• The information should be up to date and current.
• The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.
• The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.
• For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, June 22). What Is Peer Review? | Types & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/peer-review/

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What does "peer-reviewed" mean?

• If an article has been peer-reviewed before being published, it means that the article has been read by other people in the same field of study ("peers").
• The author's reviewers have commented on the article, not only noting typos and possible errors, but also giving a judgment about whether or not the article should be published by the journal to which it was submitted.

How do I find "peer-reviewed" materials?

• Most of the the research articles in scholarly journals are peer-reviewed.

What kinds of materials are *not* peer-reviewed?

• open web pages
• most newspapers, newsletters, and news items in journals
• letters to the editor
• press releases
• columns and blogs
• book reviews
• anything in a popular magazine (e.g., Time, Newsweek, Glamour, Men's Health)

If a piece of information wasn't peer-reviewed, does that mean that I can't trust it at all?

• No, not at all; some non-peer-reviewed information *is* trustworthy. For example, technical reports, doctoral dissertations, and the databases and web pages produced by U.S. government entities (e.g., National Library of Medicine, Department of Energy) and others such as the Smithsonian Institution and the American Cancer Society.
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What are scholarly sources?

Most of the time when people refer to scholarly sources , they're referring to a certain type of articles and books.

Scholarly articles --which your professor may also call peer-reviewed, refereed, or academic articles --are considered the most reliable information sources. They are written by experts and go through a rigorous process where other subject experts analyze and critique the arguments to identify errors, faulty logic, and other problems. This process is called peer review , and while it's not foolproof, it does mean that these sources are likely to have the most trustworthy information on your topic.

Scholarly articles are:

• Written by and for scholars, experts, or specialists. Authors should list their credentials.
• Published by an academic press, university, scholarly publisher, or professional organization.
• Written in factual, technical, and scholarly language.
• Intended to report on research and scholarship.
• Supported by bibliographies, works cited pages, and reference lists.
• Subject to a rigorous process called peer review , in which scholars critique, approve, or reject studies for publication.

Scholarly books share all of the characteristics of scholarly articles listed above, except one: instead of being subjected to the peer review process that articles undergo, they are instead reviewed by an editor.

Understanding the peer review process

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Is a Dissertation Peer Reviewed? [2024 Guide]

Most prospective doctoral students know they will have to complete a dissertation, but many of them wonder, “Is a dissertation peer reviewed?”

A dissertation is a lengthy paper that a PhD student writes after conducting extensive research. It allows you to explore an area of interest in great depth. Before graduating, a doctoral student defends their paper in front of a committee of faculty members.

Editorial Listing ShortCode:

Knowing whether a dissertation is a peer reviewed scholarly paper is a point of interest for any student planning to pursue a doctorate.

Is a Dissertation Peer Reviewed?

No, dissertations are not peer reviewed because they do not go through a peer review process.

Most PhD students write a final academic paper in the form of a dissertation before they graduate with their doctoral degree. In doing so, they work with a project supervisor and committee, but they aren’t required to submit their articles for peer review.

The peer review process is designed to prevent the publication of poorly written or poorly researched material. During peer review, a group of experts examine an article and evaluate it in terms of different criteria, such as:

• Originality
• Significance to the field
• Validity and accuracy

These same factors are important in a doctoral dissertation, but they are measured by a dissertation supervisor and other faculty members rather than a group of peers.

Dissertations are also different from peer reviewed academic sources because they aren’t always published in journals or as books. Unless the dissertation author decides to pursue publication, it may only appear in a library’s database or archive. So, are dissertations peer reviewed? The answer to this question is always “no,” but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable and high-quality documents.

Although dissertations, capstone projects, and theses are not peer reviewed, they are often categorized as scholarly writing alongside peer reviewed articles. This is because they are written for academic audiences, rely on reputable sources, and often include original research.

What Is Peer Review?

Peer review is a process that helps ensure published academic, professional, or scientific writing is high quality.

Effective peer reviews rely on feedback from trustworthy and experienced figures within the same field or closely related fields. For example, when someone submits an article to a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, a group of individuals with expertise in the subject reads the article and determines whether the content is appropriate for publication.

If peer reviewers feel that the writer is making unfounded assertions, misinterpreting evidence, or presenting disproven views, the article generally isn’t published.

Is a Dissertation a Scholarly Source?

In some cases, a dissertation would qualify as a scholarly source. When completing a dissertation project, a PhD student works under the supervision of advisors and a committee. The writer also conducts in-depth research and explains their results in academic language.

No matter how well-written a dissertation may be, though, it’s still student work and isn’t peer-reviewed. For this reason, some instructors and academics do not consider dissertations to be scholarly sources and discourage students from citing them in their own papers.

Are Dissertations Published?

A dissertation isn’t automatically published when a student completes their PhD. Instead, the dissertation committee, supervisor, and university library receive copies of the finished product.

If you feel that your dissertation makes significant contributions to your field, you can independently pursue publication following your defense. Depending on the length and subject matter, you may be able to publish your dissertation in its entirety as a book. Some graduates of PhD programs also publish dissertation chapters as articles in academic journals.

PhD Dissertations

Although there are online doctoral programs in education without dissertation , for most PhD students, a dissertation is an essential requirement for graduation. It requires months or years of research, planning, writing, and revising.

One process that doctoral students don’t have to worry about is peer review. Although dissertations are academic papers that meet very high standards, they are not reviewed by a panel of independent experts. They also aren’t always published in journals.

Despite these differences, dissertations are carefully researched and thoughtfully written. They allow you to graduate from a doctoral program and give you the opportunity to become an expert in the subject you find most engaging.

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Evaluating Resources: Peer Review

What is peer review.

The term peer review can be confusing, since in some of your courses you may be asked to review the work of your peers. When we talk about peer-reviewed journal articles, this has nothing to do with your peers!

Peer-reviewed journals, also called refereed journals, are journals that use a specific scholarly review process to try to ensure the accuracy and reliability of published articles. When an article is submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication, the journal sends the article to other scholars/experts in that field and has them review the article for accuracy and reliability.

Find out more about peer review with our Peer Review Guide:

• Peer Review Guide

Types of peer review

Single blind.

In this process, the names of the reviewers are not known to the author(s). The reviewers do know the name of the author(s).

Double blind

Here, neither reviewers or authors know each other's names.

In the open review process, both reviewers and authors know each other's names.

What about editorial review?

Journals also use an editorial review process. This is not the same as peer review. In an editorial review process an article is evaluated for style guidelines and for clarity. Reviewers here do not look at technical accuracy or errors in data or methodology, but instead look at grammar, style, and whether an article is well written.

What is the difference between scholarly and peer review?

Not all scholarly journals are peer reviewed, but all peer-reviewed journals are scholarly.

• Things that are written for a scholarly or academic audience are considered scholarly writing.
• Peer-reviewed journals are a part of the larger category of scholarly writing.
• Scholarly writing includes many resources that are not peer reviewed, such as books, textbooks, and dissertations.

Scholarly writing does not come with a label that says scholarly . You will need to evaluate the resource to see if it is

• aimed at a scholarly audience
• reporting research, theories or other types of information important to scholars
• documenting and citing sources used to help authenticate the research done

The standard peer review process only applies to journals. While scholarly writing has certainly been edited and reviewed, peer review is a specific process only used by peer-reviewed journals. Books and dissertations may be scholarly, but are not considered peer reviewed.

Check out Select the Right Source for help with what kinds of resources are appropriate for discussion posts, assignments, projects, and more:

• Select the Right Source

How do I locate or verify peer-reviewed articles?

The peer review process is initiated by the journal publisher before an article is even published. Nowhere in the article will it tell you whether or not the article has gone through a peer review process.

You can locate peer-reviewed articles in the Library databases, typically by checking a limiter box.

• Quick Answer: How do I find scholarly, peer reviewed journal articles?

You can verify whether a journal uses a peer review process by using Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

• Quick Answer: How do I verify that my article is peer reviewed?

What about resources that are not peer-reviewed?

Limiting your search to peer review is a way that you can ensure that you're looking at scholarly journal articles, and not popular or trade publications. Because peer-reviewed articles have been vetted by experts in the field, they are viewed as being held to a higher standard, and therefore are considered to be a high quality source. Professors often prefer peer-reviewed articles because they are considered to be of higher quality.

There are times, though, when the information you need may not be available in a peer-reviewed article.

• You may need to find original work on a theory that was first published in a book.
• You may need to find very current statistical data that comes from a government website.
• You may need background information that comes from a scholarly encyclopedia.

You will want to evaluate these resources to make sure that they are the best source for the information you need.

Note: If you are required for an assignment to find information from a peer-reviewed journal, then you will not be able to use non-peer-reviewed sources such as books, dissertations, or government websites. It's always best to clarify any questions over assignments with your professor.

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Library FAQs

How do I find scholarly, peer reviewed journal articles?

• What is the difference between scholarly and peer reviewed journals?
• How do I determine if a particular journal is peer reviewed?
• What are empirical articles? How do I locate them in NCU Library?
• Are dissertations and theses considered scholarly or peer-reviewed resources?
• Are books peer reviewed? If so, how can I tell or how can I find them?
• Are law reviews considered to be scholarly and peer-reviewed?
• Are government sources considered to be scholarly?

Academic Resources

Academic resources, such as journals, academic books, and dissertations, undergo a formal evaluation process before publication. The peer review process is used by most scholarly journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine . This helps to ensure high quality information and accuracy of results. Peer reviewed simply means that the manuscript has been reviewed by experts in the field. Scholarly peer reviewed work and other published research (dissertations, scholarly books, etc.) attempt to add to the body of knowledge. That said, even though an scholarly article has been peer reviewed, it is still important that you critically evaluate it yourself, as some journals differentiate in acceptance standards.

Remember that most of your resources for University work should be scholarly RESEARCH articles. A scholarly journal has additional sections like any other journal: editorials, book reviews, news, letters, etc. These resources are not considered research articles, even though they are published in a scholarly/peer reviewed journal. You will want to make sure that you are focusing your efforts primarily on the original, research-based articles.

Characteristics of scholarly studies:

• Reference/bibliographic list
• Defined research question(s)
• Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed research method
• Sample(s) gathered from population
• Uses of measurement instrument to gather data
• Literature review
• Inferences made from findings
• Usually more than a single author
• Scholarly, academic language
• High page count
• Tables and figures of findings

For information about how to limit your database searches to scholarly/peer-journals, see our FAQ below:

Popular Resources

Popular resources do not typically go through the same review process as academic resources; in many cases popular resources are reviewed by a single editor, who may or may not have expertise in the subject area. Popular resources are usually written for a broad audience and do not always use the same, formal language as authors of academic articles.

Examples of popular resources include magazine and newspaper articles, websites, and wikis. Use popular resources to identify the latest trends and issues within your topic, but do not rely heavily on these types of resources.

Characteristics of popular source articles:

• Uses short sentences and simple language
• Author reports information from interviews or second hand sources
• Sometimes the author is not listed or qualifications are not indicated
• Bibliography or references usually not included
• Usually illustrated with colorful photographs

Many databases have a search limiter for magazines/newspapers on the Advanced Search screen, as shown below for ProQuest Central .

Trade Publications

Trade publications are neither considered academic or popular; they are resources written for those who work in a specific industry. These publications tend to publish news, statistics, trends and other information relevant to their industry. Authors can be staff editors, journalists, practitioners or academics in the field. They made be published by trade or professional associations. Articles may be short and may not include references, or not nearly as many references as scholarly journal articles. 

Examples of trade publications include: 

• The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Engineering News Record
• Management Today

Some databases have a search limiter for trade publications on the Advanced Search screen, as shown below for ProQuest Central .

Content: Collection of more than 30 Proquest subject-specific databases covering Business, Health and Medical, Social Sciences, Education, Science and Technology, and Humanities.

Purpose: Students can view a massive amount of peer-reviewed research across multiple disciplines.

Special Features: Includes a Thesaurus feature that assists in using the database’s controlled vocabulary, as well as read-aloud feature.

Look for a Source Type or Publication Type box. Select this limiter if you wish to find only popular sources. Remember NOT to check the scholarly or peer-reviewed journal limiter.

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

Created by the Vanderbilt University's Peabody Library, the short video below will explain the differences between a scholarly and a popular resource.

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Interdisciplinary Work

If your field is interdisciplinary--e.g. gender studies or ecocriticism--don't forget to explore other disciplinary databases. You can view all our databases sorted by subject here:  https://lib.wvu.edu/databases/

MLA International Bibliography

Search mla international bibliography.

• MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window Literature, language, linguistics, folklore references from the Modern Language Association. Includes references to journal articles, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. Although full text is not included in the MLA Bibliography, the Find it @ WVU service provides links to full text from other databases when available.

Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Web of Science)

Arts and humanities citation index has access to 8,700 of the most prestigious, high impact literature journals in the world.

• This database does not contain the full-text of articles. To see if we have access to the full-text use the FIND IT @ WVU button.
• Use the TIMES CITED sort option to see which articles have been referenced the most amount of times.
• Arts & Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new window Articles from high impact research journals in each field of the humanities, with option for cited reference searching to trace scholarship. (Part of Web of Science)

Project MUSE

ProjectMuse has full-text scholarly articles from many journals in the humanities.

• Choose the Advanced Search link
• Click on Journals/ Articles from the side menu
• Narrow results by date
• Project Muse This link opens in a new window Project MUSE provides searchable, full text access to hundreds of academic journals and books. It covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and many others.

​JSTOR has full-text scholarly articles from journals in many disciplines.

• For best results, use the Advanced Search
• To retrieve only articles, not reviews, make sure you click on the box next to Articles.

JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journal articles, books, primary sources, and high-quality images. It has an archive of more than 1,000 scholarly, interdisciplinary journals, with full coverage for all but the most current 3-5 years. Images are contributed by universities, museums, and community and private collections. JSTOR is full-text searchable, offers search term highlighting, and is interlinked by millions of citations and references.

Academic Search Complete

Search academic search complete.

• Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Offers a good starting point for research on nearly any topic, covering most areas of academic study and containing full text for 5,500 periodicals, including 4,600 peer-reviewed publications. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,500 journals.

Literature Resource Center

* Choose the  Advanced Search  link

* Enter search terms and click  Peer-Reviewed Journals  under More Options

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What is peer review? What does "Scholarly/Academic" mean?

What is "peer review"?  Peer review is a process conducted by many academic publishers to assess author submissions before publication. It aims to ensure that the content being published (typically in an academic journal article or book) is written to the highest standard, adheres to subject-specific research methodology, and contributes something new to an academic field. Importantly, peer-review is done at the article level and published within a journal issue. There may be an editorial at the beginning of a journal issue that is not peer-reviewed, followed by a number of journal articles that are peer-reviewed. Similarly, an academic book (or monograph) published by an academic press might contain a collection of chapters published by different authors, each of which are peer-reviewed, with an introductory chapter by the editors that is not peer reviewed.

Different stages of the peer review process.  Having a manuscript go through the peer-review process can take significant time, lasting for months or even years. Typically the process goes as follows:

A researcher in any field submits their manuscript to a relevant academic publisher for inclusion in one of their journals or for publication as a standalone book (also known as a monograph).

The editors of the publication review the submission to decide whether or not to send the manuscript to multiple subject experts (the "peers") for review. These peer-reviewers are experts in their field and are often (but not always) employed as faculty members at universities. 

The reviewers receive the manuscript with all information about the author and their institution removed. Making the manuscript anonymous helps ensure that the process is "blind," meaning that bias is removed in cases when the reviewers know the author(s).

The reviewers take time to review the submission and make suggestions on how to improve the work. The reviewers might also reject the work outright if they find it to be of substandard quality, or if they feel it is unoriginal. 

The author receives any recommended revisions or questions from the reviewers and is asked to implemented the changes. The author resubmits the revised manuscript. Once all requested revisions have been made, the peer reviewers and the editors of the journal will proceed with formally accepting the study for future publication.

What does "Scholarly/Academic" refer to?  Peer-reviewed publications are often captured by a "Scholarly/Academic" filter in databases or by a "Peer Review" filter. Note: in most databases, the "Scholarly/Academic" filter will retrieve results that are mainly peer-reviewed studies, but not every single result will necessarily be peer-reviewed. Certain results can be "Scholarly/Academic" without being peer-reviewed. Accordingly, it is important to take additional steps to determine whether or not a study has been peer reviewed. Indicators of a peer-reviewed article or book chapter include:

Evidence of research, which can include either footnotes or a bibliography.

Evidence of expertise, as indicated in the author's credentials (also referred to as "author affiliation").

Explanation of research methodology.

Fairly plain journal format. Few photographs or illustrations, mostly charts or graphs.

Few advertisements.

Note:  The word “Journal” in the title is NOT an indicator that you are looking at a scholarly journal. 

Where can I find a peer-reviewed study?

The short answer is to search in one or more of the library's many subject databases . Think of the library's databases as a more reliable place to locate peer-reviewed resources than commercial search engines such as Google (or even broad academic search engines such as Google Scholar). Being highly curated in terms of what titles are indexed, these search tools help to exclude sources that may be discredited or unreliable, such as predatory journals . 

Read the database descriptions when you are deciding which one to search. Many of the database descriptions provided in our a-z list will identify whether or not they contain peer-reviewed journals and/or monographs.

Many databases also provide convenient filters to limit your results to peer-reviewed studies. 

Checking for peer review in EBSCO's interface

The majority of EBSCO databases offer a reliable way to verify whether or not a specific journal is a peer-reviewed resource.

Follow these steps to determine if a journal publishes peer-reviewed articles.

Select any of the EBSCO subject databases .

Enter the journal's name. In the example included below in the screenshot, the example of "JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association" is searched in Academic Search Complete .

Upon clicking this link, a detailed page about the publication should open. Towards the bottom of the page, there should be a field for "Peer Reviewed." If the notation is "YES," then the journal publishes peer-reviewed articles, as can be seen in the following screenshot:

Understanding EBSCO icons

You will see icons to the left of individual results when searching in databases provided by EBSCO. These icons mean different things, and their meaning can also vary across different databases, but, in general, they mean the following:

Many EBSCO databases use the following icon to signify Academic Journal (which contain peer-reviewed articles)

Many EBSCO databases use the following icon to identify Periodical sources (which are not peer reviewed)

What is a "Primary Research Article"?

Keep in mind that primary research articles . . .

are  original scientific reports  of new research findings

do not include review articles , which summarize the research literature on a particular subject, or articles using meta-analyses , which analyze pre-published data

usually include the following sections:  Introduction ,  Methods ,  Results ,  Discussion, References

are  peer-reviewed  (examined by expert(s) in the field before publication)

a peer-reviewed article is not the same as a review article, which summarizes the research literature on a particular subject

Keep in mind that secondary sources . . .

are summaries or interpretations of original research – not the original research itself

are often useful and easier-to-read summaries of research in an area

references or citations can point the way to useful primary research articles.

acceptable formats may include books (find these through the library catalog) and review articles (articles which organize and critically analyze the research of others on a topic)

blogs, YouTube videos, newspaper articles, book reviews, press releases and .com websites are NOT among formats usually appropriate as sources in scientific research

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• Next: General Tips for Searching in EBSCO Databases >>
• Last Updated: Feb 6, 2024 9:03 AM
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Tutorial: Evaluating Information: Gray Literature

• Evaluating Information
• Scholarly Literature Types
• Primary vs. Secondary Articles
• Peer Review
• Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analysis
• Gray Literature
• Evaluating Like a Boss
• Evaluating AV

Grey literature or types of non-formally published substantive literature

What is gray literature.

Gray (or grey) literature is literature produced by individuals or organizations outside of commercial and/or academic publishers. This type of non-formally published substantive information (often not formally peer-reviewed; especially important in all kinds of sciences) can include information such:

• theses and dissertations
• technical reports  
• working papers 
• government reports
• evaluation and think tank reports and resources
• conference proceedings, papers and posters
• publications from NGOs, INGOs, think tanks and policy institutes
• unpublished clinical trials
• and much more

The sources you select will be informed by your research question and field of study, but should likely include, at a minimum, theses and dissertations.

Why Search the Gray Literature?

Most of gray literature is considered less prestigious, reliable, and "official" than publication in a peer-reviewed journal. But they are still fully legitimate avenues of publication. Often they are used to publicize early findings, before a study is entirely complete. Or, in the case of theses, they are published as a condition of receiving an advanced degree. Government technical reports are issued either by agencies that do scientific research themselves or else by a lab that has received government funding. Increasingly, such labs may be required to publish technical reports as a condition of receiving such funding. Gray literature may be cited like any other paper although with the caveat mentioned before that it is considered less "official" and reliable than peer-reviewed scientific papers.

When doing evidence synthesiis, it's important because the intent is to synthesize  all available evidence  that is applicable to your research question. There is a strong bias in scientific publishing toward publishing studies that show some sort of significant effect. Meanwhile, many studies and trials that show no effect end up going unpublished. But knowing that an intervention had no effect is just as important as knowing that it did have an effect when it comes to making decisions for practice and policy-making. While not peer-reviewed, gray literature represents a valuable body of information that is critical to consider when synthesizing and evaluating all available evidence.

How to Manage the Grey Literature Search (particularly for evidence synthesis)

• Identify and record  the sources you will search. The sources you search will be informed by your research question and where you expect to find information related to your question.
• Document where you are searching and your search strategies, including document resource name, URL, search terms, and date searched.
• Collect citation information as you go.
• Adhere to your established inclusion and exclusion criteria when selecting sources.

Technical Reports

What are technical reports ? Technical reports present facts and conclusions about technological designs and projects. Typically, a technical report includes research about concepts as well as graphical depictions of designs and data. A technical report also follows a strict organization. Thus, when engineers read it, they can quickly locate the information they need.1

A technical report is a form of grey literature : Reports or documents produced by academia, government, industry or nonprofit organizations describing their work, proposals and/or the challenges they face. Grey literature is copyrighted like most other published work, but it usually is not distributed by commercial publishers the way a book or periodical would be but rather by the authoring organization itself. The organization that publishes the report is usually considered the 'author' (even if named individuals are credited within the report).

Some sources of technical reports:

• Sample technical reports on renewable energy Prof. Ahlers has provided these specific examples of technical reports produced by corporations and organizations regarding proposals for renewable energy projects. Take a look.
• OSTI SciTech Connect The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) maintain SciTech Connect, a portal to free, publicly available Dept. of Energy research and development results.
• NTRS - The NASA Technical Reports Server Collected from U.S. and international sources, NTRS is a collection of information that includes over 4 million bibliographic records and a growing number of full-text documents.

Preprints and Working Papers

Working papers are preliminary works, released to share ideas or invite discussion and feedback, often prior to the submission of a paper to a peer-reviewed journal or conference. Economists have traditionally relied on working papers as a method for the timely and informal communication of recent research findings.

• Bureau of Economic Analysis Working Papers
• Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Working Papers
• IDEAS (Hosted by RePEc) "IDEAS is the largest bibliographic database dedicated to Economics and available freely on the Internet. Based on RePEc, it indexes over 3,000,000 items of research, including over 2,700,000 that can be downloaded in full text."
• Economics Research Network
• NBER Working Papers NBER researchers initially report their findings in these scientific papers aimed at other professional economists. Nearly 700 NBER Working Papers are published each year, and many subsequently appear in scholarly journals.
• LawArXiv LawArXiv is a free, open access repository for legal scholarship, maintained and owned by legal scholars and law librarians for the benefit of the legal community.

How to Search the Grey Literature (particularly for evidence synthesis)

Finding gray literature and searching it systematically is challenging. But there are a few approaches that you can take to add some structure to your search of this type of information:

• Search   databases that specialize in gray literature: See the box below for more information.
• Search for theses and dissertations: There are a number of databases dedicated to theses and dissertations, which you can search using your search terms. See the box below for links to these resources. 
• Search clinical trials: There may be clinical trials being conducted that are relevant to your research question, but that haven't been published yet or never were published. See the box below for links to these resources. 
• Identify government agencies and international and non-governmental organizations that might publish technical papers and reports on your topic. Search their websites or any online libraries that they may provide. See the box below for links to some examples.
• Search conference proceedings and newsletters: Identify professional organizations that have and/or conferences at which researchers might be presenting work related to your topic. Search those conference proceedings or newsletters on the organization's website or by contacting organizational boards for access to past proceedings that may not be online. See the box below for some examples.
• Contact known researchers in the field to determine if there are any ongoing or unpublished studies that s/he may be aware of.
• Search professional and trade magazines . Professional magazines contain literature that is written by professionals in the field for other professionals in the field, but that may not be about research. Trade magazines contain advertisements and news very specific to a topic or industry.

Other Useful Guides

• Technical reports (NASA, DOE, etc.) by Jill Powell Last Updated Apr 11, 2024 306 views this year
• Patent Searching by Jill Powell Last Updated Apr 11, 2024 548 views this year
• Dissertations and Theses: A Finding Guide by Michael Engle Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 1222 views this year
• Dissertations & Theses in Engineering by Jill Powell Last Updated May 4, 2022 118 views this year
• Standards & Building Codes by Jill Powell Last Updated Jan 18, 2024 191 views this year

Grey Literature Sources

• Gray Literature Databases
• Theses and Dissertations
• Clinical Trials
• Public Policy
• Conference Proceedings
• Other Resources
• OpenGrey: System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe The System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe is an open access database to 700,000 bibliographical references of gray literature produced in Europe and allows you to export records and locate the documents in many research disciplines. OpenGrey covers Science, Technology, Biomedical Science, Economics, Social Science and Humanities topics.
• NY Academy of Medicine Grey Literature Report This report is a bimonthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) alerting readers to new gray literature publications in health services research and selected public health topics. The database platform is keyword searchable and serves as an archive for the cataloged reports.
• WHO Library Database The WHO library database includes governing documents, reports and technical documentation.
• MedNar MedNar searches across more than 60 medical research sources, including commercial databases, medical societies, NIH resources, and other government resources.
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses With more than 2 million entries, PQD&T is the single central, authoritative resource for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLT) Free international resource for theses and dissertations.
• Center for Research Libraries A resource for institutions outside of the U.S. and Canada.
• OCLC WorldCat Dissertations and Theses "This database provides fast and convenient access to the dissertations and theses available in OCLC member libraries. Many theses are available electronically, at no charge, directly from the publishing institution."
• Guide to Theses and Dissertations Resources This guide provides information on finding and accessing both Cornell and non-Cornell theses and dissertations, including many resources for non-US literature.
• EThOS Electronic Theses Online Service contains doctoral theses from candidates in the UK.
• ClinicalTrials.gov The US registry for clinical trials. Includes new, ongoing, and completed human clinical trials both in the US and countries around the world.
• Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials A highly concentrated source of reports of randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials. The majority of CENTRAL records are taken from bibliographic databases (mainly MEDLINE and Embase), but records are also derived from other published and unpublished sources.
• EU Clinical Trials Register The European Union Clinical Trials Register allows you to search for protocol and results information on interventional clinical trials that are conducted in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) and clinical trials conducted outside the EU / EEA that are linked to European paediatric-medicine development.
• Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Online register of clinical trials being undertaken in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. The ANZCTR includes trials from the full spectrum of therapeutic areas of pharmaceuticals, surgical procedures, preventive measures, lifestyle, devices, treatment and rehabilitation strategies, and complementary therapies.
• WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform ICTRP provides access to a central database containing the trial registration data sets provided by numerous international registries. It also provides links to the full original records.
• Wikipedia Clinical Trial Registries List This Wikipedia entry contains a list of links to individual clinical trial registries by country.
• World Bank ​The World Bank now makes all of their publications openly available online.
• WHO Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS) Institutional WHO database of intergovernmental policy documents and technical reports. Can search by IRIS by region (Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia, Western Pacific).
• Health Research Web A wiki with descriptors of national health research systems, ethics review committees, local and regional policies and research priorities and more.
• OCLC PapersFirst OCLC PapersFirst is an OCLC index of papers presented at conferences worldwide.
• BIOSIS Previews A subcollection of Web of Science, BIOSIS Previews searches across journals, meetings, patents, and books in the life sciences and biomedical fields.
• Grey Matters: A practical search tool for evidence-based medicine This online manual provides a thorough list of sources for gray literature in medicine and a helpful checklist to help systematize your process.
• Googling the Greys: Tips for Searching Beyond Health Databases and Turning Information into Insights This presentation by Sarah Bonato, a health science librarian at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, ON, provides an excellent guide to searching Google effectively to find gray literature.
• Duke University Medical Center Guide to Resource for Searching the Grey Literature Resources for trial registries, pharmacological studies, conference abstracts, government document and more.

Grey Literature Resources for International Agriculture & Development

Not all websites are created equal! Major nongovernmental organizations and various scholarly associations can be rich and authoritative websites, especially for the kind of grey literature not published in mainstream scholarly journals (including white papers, evaluation reports, training materials, and the like). Below are a few useful places to start.

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• United Nations
• United Nations Development Programme
• International Development Research Centre
• CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research)
• IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute)
• USAID Agriculture portal
• USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse
• DFID (Department for International Development)
• Microfinance Gateway
• Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development (CIIFAD) This rich site also has a good section of other international resources at Cornell.
• Institute of Development Studies (UK)
• USAID Data Resources
• International Initiative for Impact Evaluation "3ie funds impact evaluations and systematic reviews that generate high quality evidence on what works in development and why. Evidence on development effectiveness can inform policy and improve the lives of poor people."
• British Library for Development Studies
• Development Gateway
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Dissemination of PhD Dissertation Research by Dissertation Format: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Arlene smaldone.

1. Professor of Nursing and Dental Behavioral Sciences, Assistant Dean, Scholarship and Research, School of Nursing and College of Dental Medicine Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Elizabeth Heitkemper

2. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Bioinformatics, Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, NY, USA.

Kasey Jackman

3. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Nursing Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Kyungmi Joanne Woo

4. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Judith Kelson

5. Assistant Director, PhD program, School of Nursing, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.

The study purpose was to compare dissemination of PhD dissertation research by dissertation format: traditional (five-chapter document providing a complete and systematic account of the PhD research) versus an alternate (substudy [document containing three smaller studies but not written as stand-alone manuscripts] or publication [document containing three or more related manuscripts intended for submission or published in a peer-reviewed journal]) format.

A retrospective study of all PhD dissertations (1999–2019) from one research intensive school of nursing.

Following identification of graduates via the school’s PhD database, we searched ProQuest and PubMed databases for the dissertation and first authored peer-reviewed publications of each graduate to determine dissertation format, study design, timing and number of dissertation research publications, and inclusion of dissertation sponsor in authorship. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.

Of 113 graduates, 80 (70.8%) employed a traditional format, with the remaining graduates structuring dissertations using an alternate (substudy [ n = 12], publication [ n = 21]) format. Of those using the traditional format, 33 graduates (41.3%) never published dissertation research findings in a peer-reviewed journal. For those who published their dissertation research in a peer-reviewed journal, time to first publication was 1.4 ± 2.1 years (median 1.6 years) following degree conferral. In contrast, all graduates who utilized alternate formats published one or more components of their dissertation research with shorter time to first published manuscript (−0.6 ± 1.1 years; median −0.5 years; p < .001). Number of peer-reviewed publications was higher for those who utilized an alternate format compared to the traditional format (2.9 ± 1.5 [median 3.0] vs. 1.8 ± 1.1 [median 1.0], p = .001). Acknowledgment of the sponsor’s contribution via publication authorship was higher for those using an alternate format compared to the traditional format (100% vs. 70.2%).

Conclusions:

Number and timeliness of peer-reviewed publications stemming from dissertation research was higher for PhD graduates who utilized an alternate dissertation format. Alternate dissertation formats should be encouraged by PhD programs as one means to improve dissemination of PhD nursing research.

Clinical Relevance:

Dissemination of PhD research through peer-reviewed publications promotes the continued development of nursing science to inform nursing practice and advances the career trajectory of PhD graduates.

Dissemination of research via peer-reviewed publications is important to the profession and to the career development of the emerging nurse scientist. While the traditional five-chapter dissertation format containing an introduction to the problem (chapter 1), review of literature (chapter 2), methods and materials (chapter 3), research results (chapter 4), and discussion and conclusion (chapter 5) was once the sole option for students in research-focused graduate programs leading to a doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree, over the past decade there has been rapid uptake of the publication format dissertation both in nursing ( Graves et al., 2018 ) and other fields ( Stock & Siegfried, 2013 ). The publication format dissertation, also known as the three-paper format, differs from the traditional format dissertation in that chapters 2, 3, and 4 are reports of individual studies prepared as manuscripts consistent with the format specified by the targeted peer-reviewed journal. As recently as 10 years ago, fewer than 20 schools of nursing offered a publication format dissertation option to their PhD students ( Baggs, 2011 ; Nolan et al., 2008 ; Robinson & Dracup, 2008 ). Since then, the number has more than doubled. Of 79 schools of nursing offering PhD programs who responded to a recent survey, 70% offered the publication dissertation format option. Both format options were offered by 59% of the schools, with less than one fourth of schools offering the traditional option only ( Graves et al., 2018 ).

Integrated within a program of PhD study, the publication format dissertation has the potential to offer substantial benefit both to the student and faculty mentor. For the student it provides a first-hand experience in journal selection and discussion about authorship early in the process ( Broome, 2018 ; Chyun & Henly, 2015 ). The student who writes a publication format dissertation benefits from the opportunity to identify journals appropriate for the research, develops skills in clear, concise scientific writing, avoids unintended plagiarism, benefits from external peer-review critique, and revises the manuscript based on reviewer feedback ( Foster, 2009 ; Francis, Mills, Chapman, & Birks, 2009 ; Gross, Alhusen, & Jennings, 2012 ; Kearney, 2015 ). These experiences are less likely to be encountered during predoctoral education by those who write a traditional dissertation. One or more first authored peer-reviewed publications may provide a competitive edge for a postdoctoral fellowship or tenure track faculty position ( Freeman, 2018 ). For faculty, co-authorship with their dissertation advisee is a demonstration of mentorship ( Gross et al., 2012 ). On the other hand, concerns have been raised about potential copyright issues, need for additional help with writing by students, and faculty burden in providing that assistance when the publication option is pursued ( Broome, 2018 ; Kearney, 2014 ; Robinson & Dracup, 2008 ).

Although there has been discourse about the potential pros and cons, little is known about the dissemination of research findings as peer-reviewed publications for those who have opted to structure their dissertation research as distinct publications. The purpose of this study was to examine the timing, number, and authorship of peer-reviewed publications stemming from dissertation research of PhD graduates at one school of nursing by dissertation format: traditional five-chapter versus an alternative (substudy or publication) format. The substudy and publication formats are similar since both contain dissertation research presented as three smaller studies. However, the formats differ in the sense that the publication format presents each study as a standalone manuscript, whereas in the substudy format the results chapter is limited to findings of each study with interpretation of findings from the three studies found in the last chapter of the dissertation.

We analyzed data from a retrospective cohort of 113 Columbia University School of Nursing PhD graduates (May 1999 to February 2019). The program began as a Doctor of Nursing Science (DNSc) program in the mid-1990s, with its first graduate earning the degree in May 1999. In 2008 the program transitioned from a DNSc to a PhD program. With this change, all students were required to maintain full time enrollment status as per Columbia University policy. First and second year students in good standing who had entered the DNSc program were offered the option to either continue the DNSc curriculum or to complete the additional requirements of the new PhD nursing curriculum (one additional two-credit course, Interdisciplinary Research Models). The rigor of the dissertation requirement was not altered with change in terminal degree. The first PhD degree in nursing was awarded in October 2009. The history of doctoral education for nurses in the United States (US), including similarities between the DNSc and PhD degrees, recent phasing out of DNSc programs, and their replacement with PhD programs in nursing, has been summarized by Reid, Ponte, and Nicholas (2015) . Similar to other universities (e.g., University of California at San Francisco), in 2011 Columbia University retroactively awarded a PhD degree to 58 DNSc graduates without any additional course requirements. From program inception, while the majority of students employed a five-chapter traditional style dissertation format, select students (e.g., students who had successfully competed for National Research Service Award F31 predoctoral fellowships) were offered the opportunity to format their dissertation using an alternative format.

In 2014 the PhD program curriculum was modified with the expectation that PhD students would register for core, elective classes or dissertation advisement during fall, spring, and summer semesters with the goal of accelerating time to graduation, making it possible to complete the program in 3 years. The minimum number of credits required for graduation remained unchanged. Also, in 2014, a process for a publication option consisting of three publishable papers was formalized and included in the PhD student handbook as a choice for all Columbia Nursing PhD students. The decision regarding dissertation format is made by students in collaboration with their faculty mentor and declared at the time of the students’ dissertation proposal defense. Table 1 provides a summary of requirements for the dissertation proposal by format type. For those choosing a publication format option, the target journal and an alternate journal for each proposed paper as well as authorship are determined at the time of proposal defense. The first manuscript is a review of literature in the topic area of the research using systematic review, integrative review, scoping review, or qualitative meta-synthesis methods. Topics for the second and third manuscripts are determined by the student in collaboration with their dissertation committee and may include a methods paper, a quantitative study, or a qualitative study. For both dissertation formats, a fifth chapter will be written following completion of the research prior to the dissertation defense. Chapter 5 includes summarization and discussion of research findings within the context of what is known in the field and the implications of the research for policy, research, and practice.

Requirements for Written Dissertation Proposal Defense by Format Type

Note. Summarized from Appendices F1 and F2, PhD Program Student Handbook, 2018–2019 available at http://nursing.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/documents/phdstudenthandbookrevaugust2018.pdf

In the US, federally funded T32 training programs provide sources of funding to support the education of PhD students as well as to establish an infrastructure within the school for specific types of research. Currently, there are 21 National Institute of Nursing Research–funded T32 training programs in the US ( National Institute of Nursing Research, n.d. ). Since PhD program inception, the school has been awarded three distinct T32 training programs in informatics (T32 NR007969, 2002–2022), infection prevention (T32 NR013454, 2007–2018), and comparative effectiveness research (T32 NR014205 2013–2023). Many students have been supported by these training grants during their doctoral studies.

Data Sources and Variables

Data for this retrospective cohort study were collected from three sources: Columbia University School of Nursing PhD Microsoft Access database, ProQuest dissertations & theses at Columbia University, and PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health). The PhD database was used to identify all program graduates from 1999 through February 2019. From the PhD program database, name, dissertation sponsor (faculty member who provided mentorship to the student in planning, implementing, and reporting the dissertation research), date of degree conferral, dissertation title, and degree(s) earned prior to entry to the PhD program (bachelor of science in nursing [BSN], master of science in nursing, or master of public health) were extracted for each graduate since program inception (J.K.). Each dissertation was retrieved using the ProQuest database. At Columbia University, dissertations are available via ProQuest within a few weeks of final submission of the dissertation. The abstract, table of contents, and acknowledgments sections were read for general sense of the research aims, study design (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods), topical area of study, and whether the graduate had collected original data as part of dissertation research or used a secondary source such as national or state level data (E.H., K.J.). The dissertation format was categorized as either a traditional or alternate (substudy, publication) format based on the dissertation abstract and table of contents (A.S.). When the name of the graduate’s dissertation sponsor was unrecorded in the PhD database, the name was retrieved from the acknowledgments page of the dissertation. Finally, PubMed was searched in September 2017 and updated in March 2019 to identify the number of first authored peer-reviewed publications that were directly related to the dissertation research. We excluded publications that did not stem from the students’ dissertation research. The year and month of first publication and year and month of the last publication were retrieved, as were the name of the journal in which the manuscript was published and whether the dissertation sponsor was included as a co-author or senior (last) author on the publication. If the publication was available online ahead of print, this date was selected. Journals were categorized as nursing, interdisciplinary, or other discipline (E.H., K.J., A.S.). Using date of degree conferral and date of first publication, we estimated time to first publication. For those with more than one dissertation research publication, dates of first and last publication were used to estimate time from first to last publication. Time to graduation was estimated using date of degree conferral and date of program entry.

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; dissemination of research via peer-reviewed publications and time to degree conferral by dissertation format (traditional vs. alternate [substudy and publication] formats) were compared using the Wilcoxon sign rank test. SAS 9.4 statistical software (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA) was used for all analyses. A p value of <.05 was considered statistically significant.

Of 113 PhD graduates, the majority (70.8%) had formatted their dissertation as a traditional five-chapter document, with the remaining graduates using alternate (substudy [10.6%] or publication [18.6%]) formats. Figure 1 illustrates the shift from use of the traditional dissertation format to the publication format and time to graduation by dissertation format over the 21-year period. Across formats, median time to graduation decreased from 4.7 years during the period 1999–2004 to 3.5 years during 2015–2019 (data not shown). Across time intervals, use of the publication format option did not increase time to program completion.

Dissertation format (A) and time (years) to degree conferral (B) over a 21-year period.

Table 2 provides details regarding the characteristics of graduates and their dissertations by format type. Across formats, the majority of graduates had entered the PhD program after achieving a master’s degree in nursing. For those who used the traditional dissertation format, quantitative study designs were most frequently employed (68.8%), with many using existing national or state level data sources. More than half of those who used an alternative format (substudy [58.3%], publication [61.9%]) employed mixed-methods study designs. Across dissertation formats, the majority of graduates had collected original data for all or part of their dissertation research. Overall, topic areas for dissertation research varied widely ( Figure 2 ), with some (e.g., informatics [16.1%] and infection prevention [8%]) being very consistent with the T32 research training efforts of the school. Notably, approximately one third (35.7%) of dissertations were categorized as “other,” reflecting both the diversity of research interests by PhD graduates and the broad expertise of faculty mentors to guide the research.

Dissertation topic areas by dissertation format.

Characteristics of Dissertations by Format Type

Note: BSN to PhD = a student entering a PhD program in nursing following completion of the Bachelor of Science degree in nursing; MPH = a student entering a PhD program in nursing following completion of one or more degrees in nursing and a master’s degree in public health.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Of those who utilized the traditional dissertation format, 58.7% of graduates had published one or more peer-reviewed research articles, whereas all graduates using the alternate formats disseminated their research via peer-reviewed publications. In total, 181 peer-reviewed publications were retrieved. The number of first authored publications stemming from dissertation research was higher for those who utilized alternative formats versus the traditional dissertation format (2.9 ± 1.5 [median 3.0; range 1–7] vs. 1.8 ± 1.1 [median 1.0; range 0–6], p = .001). Across dissertation formats, graduates who had earned a master’s degree in public health prior to PhD program entry, on average, had disseminated more peer-reviewed publications (2.7 ± 2.0; median 2.0, range 1–7) compared to those who had entered the program either as BSN to PhD (2.3 ± 1.9; median 2.0, range 0–5) or with a master’s degree in nursing or another field (1.4 ± 1.4; median 1.0, range 0–6; p = .02). Of graduates who had disseminated their research via peer-reviewed publications, the dissertation sponsor was included as either a coauthor or senior author in 70.2% of publications stemming from traditional dissertation formats compared to 100% of publications using an alternate format. Across dissertation formats, graduates most frequently published their work in journals targeted to an interdisciplinary readership. Manuscripts were published in more than 90 journals.

Timing and Dissemination of Dissertation Research

Time to first publication was significantly shorter for those using alternate formats compared to the traditional dissertation format (−0.6 ± 1.1 [median −0.5] years vs. 1.4 ± 2.1 [median 1.6] years; p < .001), with no differences in duration between publication of the first and last dissertation publication (1.8 ± 1.0 [median 1.7] years vs. 2.0 ± 1.6 [median 1.3] years; p = .70). There were no differences in timing or number of publications by educational preparation of the graduate at time of program entry.

In this sample of PhD graduates from one school of nursing, dissemination of dissertation research via peer-reviewed publications was both greater in number and the timing of the first peer-reviewed publication occurred approximately 2 years earlier for those with dissertations structured in an alternate format compared to those whose dissertations were written using the traditional five-chapter format. For more than half of the PhD graduates using an alternate format, publication of at least one manuscript published in a peer-reviewed journal occurred prior to defense of the dissertation. Acknowledgment of the dissertation sponsor’s contribution to the research via either co-authorship or senior authorship was more frequent when an alternate dissertation format was employed.

While the majority of graduates disseminated their research via peer-reviewed publications, approximately 40% of those who used the traditional dissertation format did not. This may be because the graduate either did not attempt to submit manuscripts of their work or was unsuccessful in doing so. However, the proportion of PhD graduates with unpublished dissertation research in our sample was significantly lower than what has been reported by others both in nursing ( Kearney, 2017 ) and in other fields such as psychology ( Evans, Amaro, Herbert, Blossom, & Roberts, 2018 ), where the proportions of unpublished dissertations were 76% and 74.4%, respectively. An unpublished dissertation is a lost opportunity for both the graduate and the scientific community at large because research findings reported in dissertations are less likely to be cited in academic journals ( Thomas, 2015 ) or included as part of systematic reviews of literature ( Moyer, Schneider, Knapp-Oliver, & Sohl, 2010 ). Envisioning dissertation research as publishable manuscripts at the time of proposal defense helps the PhD student to think about journal selection, negotiate authorship, and envision the end goal of dissemination right from the beginning.

Faculty support and mentorship is critical to success for all PhD students. Students using the publication dissertation option have additional mentorship needs relating to the publication process, including journal selection, criteria for authorship, keeping to strict word limits, the manuscript submission process, and responding to the feedback of peer reviewers. Evidenced by the publication rate of graduates who opted for the publication format in our sample, mentorship in writing and the publication process was both available and sufficient to foster PhD student success. However, this may not be universally true across all PhD programs in nursing. In a recent survey of PhD nursing programs, lack of PhD faculty support was the reason most frequently reported by schools who chose not to adopt a publication format dissertation option ( Graves et al., 2018 ). Our T32 training grants have provided tuition and stipend support for many of our predoctoral students. Most of our PhD faculty currently have federally funded projects and are actively engaged in disseminating their research via peer-reviewed publications; this may not necessarily be true for all schools that have PhD programs. Further, in 2013 the school implemented a manuscript writing workshop for faculty in which manuscripts are “workshopped” and receive feedback from peer reviewers who are naive to the work. The workshop, now open to postdoctoral students and select PhD students with a completed manuscript ready for feedback, is an additional resource for PhD students ( Kulage & Larson, 2016 ). Schools of nursing need to consider faculty and school resources when implementing an alternate format dissertation option.

Our study has several limitations. The sample included only one school of nursing and may not be broadly representative. We did not directly contact graduates regarding their peer-reviewed publications of dissertation research; instead, we relied on an electronic database search. Peer-reviewed manuscripts may have been published in journals that were not indexed in PubMed and therefore missed. Other forms of dissemination such as conference poster and oral presentations were not examined. It is also possible that the number of publications, particularly of more recent graduates, may be underestimated.

Conclusions

Findings of this study demonstrate outcomes from one research-intensive school of nursing. PhD graduates who opted to employ an alternate dissertation format had both earlier dissemination of their research and a greater number of peer-reviewed publications of work completed as part of their dissertation. This illustrates the potential for increased dissemination of nursing research with greater uptake of the publication dissertation format that is occurring nationwide in schools of nursing. Future research in multisite samples is needed both to confirm and expand upon these findings by examining other forms of research dissemination. Dissemination of PhD research through peer-reviewed publications promotes the continued development of nursing science to inform nursing practice and advances the career trajectory of PhD graduates. Alternate dissertation formats should be encouraged by PhD programs as one means to improve dissemination of PhD nursing research.

Please gray-box Clinical Resources

Clinical resources.

• American Association of Colleges of Nursing. PhD Education. http://www.aacnnursing.org/Nursing-Education-Programs/PhD-Education
• Columbia University School of Nursing. PhD program student handbook. http://www.nursing.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/documents/phdstudenthandbookrevaug2018_0.pdf
• National Institute of Nursing Research. Institutional training programs (T32). https://www.ninr.nih.gov/researchandfunding/funded-ninr-grants-collaborative-activities/institutionalfile
• Reid Ponte, P., & Nicholas, P. K. (2015) . Addressing the confusion related to DNS, DNSc, and DSN degrees, with lessons for the nursing profession. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(4), 347–353. doi: 10.1111/jnu.12148

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by T32NR007969 (Principal Investigator Bakken) and T32 NR014205 (Principal Investigator Stone). A portion of this work was presented as a symposium at the 2018 Eastern Nursing Research Society Scientific Sessions and as an oral presentation at the 2019 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Doctoral Education Conference.

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Education: Peer-Reviewed/Scholarly Materials

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Peer Review in 3 Minutes

What is Peer-Reviewed?

• A peer-reviewed journal, sometimes also called refereed , is a journal where the articles are vetted by the article author's peers. In other words, if an educational scholar wants to submit his or her article to a peer-reviewed journal, a group of other educational scholars who review articles for the journal have to agree that it is good/rigorous enough to be included in their journal
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How to tell if a journal is peer-reviewed

You can't always trust an article database on whether or not a particular journal is peer-reviewed. To find out whether it is or not, you can:

a) Search the journal title in the UlrichsWeb database

• Ulrichsweb Ulrichsweb is a bibliographic database providing detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative information on serials published throughout the world. It covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription.

b) Search the journal title in Google or another search engine

• If the journal isn't in Ulrich's, you can search for its website, which will tell you whether it's peer-reviewed or not
• In  Google  or another search engine like  Bing , type the journal title in  double quotation marks  so that it's read as a phrase
• E.g., type:  "canadian journal of education"
• Usually, there will be writer's guidelines called "Submission guidelines," "Writers' guidelines," or something similar. That's the section where they will frequently tell you whether the journal is peer-reviewed
• The information may also be under the general information on the journal, or under something like "editorial policy"
• Sometimes it will say "blind review" when it's peer-reviewed
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• Last Updated: Feb 22, 2024 2:57 PM
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Is a Dissertation Peer Reviewed?

When thinking about any kind of academic publication, one of the first thoughts that comes to mind relates to peer review. While the practice is not well-understood outside of academic circles–because it doesn’t really need to be–it is highly valued within the academic community. A major goal of all academic publication endeavors is peer review, a scholarly seal of approval that most academics begin pursuing immediately after their dissertation.

So, is a dissertation peer reviewed? The answer is no, but, as with all things academic, the short answer doesn’t tell the whole story. A better answer is “not yet. ” There are many dimensions to the academic peer review process–particularly as it relates to dissertations–and it pays to fully understand the process before you pursue it. 

These are a few frequently asked questions related to dissertation peer review:  

• What is peer review?
• What does the peer review process look like?
• Who are peer reviewers?
• When would a dissertation be peer reviewed?

What is Peer Review?

Peer review is the scholarly process by which new research is vetted by established (well-published, often tenured) academics. It is the gold standard for scholarship, and the metric by which all research is judged. Peer review is a rigorous, multi-stage process designed to ensure that only the highest quality research gets published and disseminated to the academic community. 

In short, if it’s not peer reviewed, it doesn’t count. When I was a freshly-minted Ph.D. in my first assistant professorship, I viewed the peer review process with some trepidation, and I wasn’t wrong. For better or worse, peer review is a gatekeeping process that puts even the most seasoned scholars to the test. It’s a crucible, a gauntlet, and not for the faint of heart. But fear not: if you have what it takes to defend your dissertation, peer review is well within your grasp. 

The Peer Review Process

Peer review is a lengthy process with several steps between submission and publication. On average, it takes about 18 months for an article to go through the peer review process and appear in print–sometimes much longer. This can be a nerve-wracking time for academics, though the anxieties of the waiting game can be eased by understanding the different phases of the process and knowing what is happening. 

These are the stages of the peer review process:

• Submission Once research has been completed and the study has been written up (and likely critiqued by colleagues and revised), it gets submitted to an academic journal. Journal submissions happen one at a time, so it’s a good idea to submit to your top choice first. Journals are ranked in tiers, with top tier journals, like Nature or The Journal of American Medicine , being the most competitive to get published in. 
• Evaluation After a manuscript has been submitted, the editor of the publication determines if it meets the basic standards of the journal. If so, the article is forwarded to peer reviewers, who have a few months (that’s right, months) to read and comment on the quality of the manuscript. Manuscripts are reviewed blindly to prevent any sort of bias working for or against the author. 
• Decision Undergoing the peer review process does not automatically mean publication. Peer reviewers have a few options when it comes to recommending a manuscript for publication: Accept, Accept with Revision, Revise and Re-Submit, or Reject. The editor then evaluates the comments from each of the peer reviewers–usually two or three–and makes a final decision. 
• Publication Accepted articles go through an additional editorial process if significant changes have been requested, as well as line edits, proofreading, and a final polish prior to publication. Like I said, it’s a journey. 

Who are peer reviewers? 

Peer reviewers are scholars and academics who are generally considered to be outstanding in their field . They are likely to be ranked faculty members at their institutions (universities, institutes, hospitals, etc.) who have been awarded professional distinctions that may include grants, prizes, fellowships, and multiple publications. 

Peer reviewers are experts in their field, and have more than likely published in the journal you have submitted to. At one point, they may have also held a position on the editorial board. Regardless, they are recognized authorities in their field, and they have a vested interest in promoting dynamic and high-quality scholarship. 

There is a running joke in the academic world about our greatest villain, Reviewer 2. Hundreds of memes run wild about the inhumanity of Reviewer 2 , who gets blamed for every arch comment, every deleted page, and every “Reject” or “Revise and Re-Submit” decision handed down by every journal in every field. If you’re not thrilled with the peer review comments you receive, feel free to blame Reviewer 2. The rest of us do. 

When Would a Dissertation Be Peer Reviewed?

Dissertations do not get published in academic journals, though they are occasionally expanded and published as academic monographs, usually by university presses. This is rare, but it is a great opportunity when it happens. A scholarly monograph is not to be confused with the bound, printed, and catalogued copies of dissertations. Yes, you can sometimes buy a beautiful copy of your dissertation on Amazon at an exorbitant price (my parents have two!), but that is not a peer reviewed publication. 

More commonly, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, dissertation research is broken down and revised into two or three articles to be submitted at separate journals for publication. For many academics, their first peer reviewed publications are born from their dissertation research. My first two peer reviewed articles both came from my dissertation research , and having that work already done really helped me hit the ground running with my scholarship during my busy, overwhelming first year as an assistant professor. 

While dissertations are not peer reviewed, they are expected to be written to withstand that level of scrutiny. A dissertation–which does get reviewed by a panel of experts in the form of your dissertation committee and chair–is the ultimate training exercise for a life of academic scholarship and contributions to the body of knowledge. Once you have completed and successfully defended your dissertation , you are well-prepared to enter the fray of academic scholarship. 

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Courtney Watson, Ph.D.

Courtney Watson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of English at Radford University Carilion, in Roanoke, Virginia. Her areas of expertise include undergraduate and graduate curriculum development for writing courses in the health sciences and American literature with a focus on literary travel, tourism, and heritage economies. Her writing and academic scholarship has been widely published in places that include  Studies in American Culture ,  Dialogue , and  The Virginia Quarterly Review . Her research on the integration of humanities into STEM education will be published by Routledge in an upcoming collection. Dr. Watson has also been nominated by the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Rising Star Award, and she is a past winner of the National Society of Arts & Letters Regional Short Story Prize, as well as institutional awards for scholarly research and excellence in teaching. Throughout her career in higher education, Dr. Watson has served in faculty governance and administration as a frequent committee chair and program chair. As a higher education consultant, she has served as a subject matter expert, an evaluator, and a contributor to white papers exploring program development, enrollment research, and educational mergers and acquisitions.

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Anne Innis Dagg, Who Studied Giraffes in the Wild, Dies at 91

She was believed to be the first Western scientist to study the animals in their natural habitat, but she struggled to overcome sexism in academia.

By Clay Risen

Anne Innis Dagg, who broke ground in the 1950s as one of the world’s first biologists to study giraffes in the wild, then spent decades fighting sexism in Canadian universities before finally finding long-overdue acclaim in the 2010s, died on April 1 in Kitchener, Ontario, west of Toronto. She was 91.

Alison Reid, who documented Dr. Dagg’s life in the 2018 film “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes,” said the cause of her death, in a hospital, was pneumonia.

Dr. Dagg was often called “the Jane Goodall of giraffes,” but in a different world the attribution might have been reversed. Dr. Dagg traveled to Africa in 1956, four years before Dr. Goodall did her first fieldwork with primates; in fact, she is believed to have been the first Western scientist to study African animals of any type in the wild.

At the time, very little was known about the behavior of giraffes, especially outside zoos. Dr. Dagg spent more than nine months in the South African bush, observing for 10 hours a day from her beat-up Ford Prefect how the animals ate, mated, fought and played.

The results, which she presented first in a 1958 paper for the Zoological Society of London and later in a 1976 book, “The Giraffe: Its Biology, Behavior, and Ecology,” established her as the world’s leading expert on the gawky-legged, mottled Giraffa camelopardalis.

That recognition was not enough to overcome entrenched sexism within the academic world. She had a promising job as an assistant professor at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, and she had published significantly more peer-reviewed articles than some of her male colleagues. But her department chairman told her in 1971 that she was unlikely to reach tenure.

She applied for a similar position at Wilfrid Laurier University, also in Ontario, but was passed over for a less accomplished male candidate. She filed a complaint with the Ontario government; the issue was drawn out for nearly a decade, but the complaint was ultimately rejected.

Dr. Dagg spent short stints teaching at other universities before landing at the University of Waterloo as a part-time instructor. She used her spare time to write books on biology — she was among the first to study homosexual behavior in mammals — as well as on feminism and sexism.

Then, in 2010, a group of zookeepers invited her to attend a conference in Phoenix as their guest of honor. A vibrant field, giraffology, had sprouted around her many papers and, in particular, her 1976 book.

“Every zookeeper, every scientist, had it on their bookshelf, but no one knew her,” Ms. Reid, the filmmaker, said in a phone interview.

The attention grew from there: television documentaries, magazine profiles and finally Ms. Reid’s film, which introduced Dr. Dagg to international audiences. She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2019, the same year she received an official apology from the University of Guelph.

“I’ve been ignored my whole life, and just to find out now that I’m actually a person and people really think I’m interesting,” she said in an interview with The Guelph Mercury in 2019 . “It’s pretty amazing. I love it.”

Anne Christine Innis was born on Jan. 25, 1933, in Toronto. Her parents were both well-known academics at the University of Toronto. Her mother, Mary Quayle Innis, was a dean, as well as a novelist. Her father, Harold Innis , was chairman of the political economy department; one of the university’s constituent colleges was named in his honor.

She saw her first giraffe when she was 3, during a family vacation to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.

“It was very tall and I was very small,” she told CTV News in 2021 . “And I remember thinking: ‘This is beautiful. I think this is magnificent.’ And it went on from there.”

She received a bachelor’s degree with honors in biology in 1955 and a master’s in genetics a year later, both from the University of Toronto. All along, she focused on giraffes.

Her honors degree came with a small cash award, and with that money she looked for a way to get into the field. But she was rejected by more than a dozen African governments and foundations, with the thinly veiled message that women do not belong in that line of research.

She changed tactics and began giving her name as simply “A. Innis,” with better results. A rancher in South Africa with a 62,000-acre spread, home to about 95 giraffes, said she could stay with him. When she revealed her gender, he hesitated, but he ultimately welcomed her.

After nearly a year in Africa, she returned to Canada, and to academia, receiving her doctorate in animal behavior from the University of Waterloo in 1967. Her dissertation became the basis of her 1976 book, which she wrote with J. Bristol Foster — the first full-length scientific text on giraffes and, for years after, the only one.

She married Ian Dagg in 1957. He died in 1993. She is survived by their children, Mary, Hugh and Ian Dagg; her brother, Hugh; and a grandson.

Dr. Dagg’s many published works include a memoir, “Pursuing Giraffe” (2006), in which she recounted her time in Africa. The book, written in the present tense, ends on a bittersweet note, lamenting the fact that she would most likely never get back there.

“I’m grieving because my dream of a lifetime is over at 24,” she wrote. “I fear that I will never again visit the giraffe in Africa, and I never have.”

The book caught the attention of Ms. Reid, who considered it first for a feature film, then decided on a documentary. As part of the filming, she arranged for Dr. Dagg to return to the South African ranch where she had first worked, some 60 years prior — and to visit the giraffes where she thought she would never see them again.

Clay Risen is a Times reporter on the Obituaries desk. More about Clay Risen