What the heck is a "Peer Reviewed Article"

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I am not sure what a "Peer Reviewed Article" is. We have had assignments where we were supposed to critique a peer reviewed article. The instructor gives us a list of questions to answer that pertain to the research in these articles, like "Was a thorough literature review done?" Wouldn't a literature review pertain to the research study itself, rather than a "peer review" of that research? Some of my classmates think any article in a nursing journal is "peer reviewed". That doesn't seem right to me. What do y'all think?

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The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes only peer-reviewed work. The National Enquirer - doesn't. ;)

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

peer review are articles that are submitted for publication and are judged by experts (scholarly or scientific peers). in other words, the article has been read, examined, judged by people with credentials in the article's field of study before it is published.

a process by which something proposed (as for research or publication) is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peer%20review

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So, maybe my classmates are right. For example, if the article appears in the American Journal of Nursing, can I assume that it has been "peer reviewed". It seems like what the instructors are wanting is for me to be a "peer" and review the research rather than the article. Do you think this is what they are looking for?

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Academic Search Elite Indexes over 3,400 publications, including scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multicultural studies, as well as popular magazines published from 1990-present. Full-text articles are provided for over 2,000 periodical titles.Under "Limit Your Results", check the "Peer-Reviewed/Refereed Journal" box on the main search screen.

Expanded Academic ASAP Indexes over 3,300 publications, including scholarly journals in the social sciences, humanities, general science, technology, as well as popular magazines published from 1980-present. Full-text articles are provided for over 2,000 periodical titles.Under "Limit the Current Search", check the box for "to peer-reviewed (refereed) articles"

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Reviewing an article for publication (review as a peer prior to the article's publishing); this would be what your Instructor is wanting.

This review includes critiquing the type, amount, substance of research involved.

As for if an article in the AJN being peer reviewed (100% of the time), I cannot answer that.

If your Instructor assigned you to critique an article that has already been published, she/he is probably wanting you to do a peer review (as if you were an expert on the subject matter of the article). And, this includes the research used in the article.

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Specializes in CICU.

Your school's library probably has folks there to help out with stuff like this, just in case you are unaware. At minimum they should be able to help you find an appropriate article.

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Most nursing journals are peer reviewed...look in the first few pages of the journal.

If youa re using a database search like EBSCO then just tick "peer reviewed only" or whatever in the search parameters.

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