“Peer-reviewed” refers to the process in which expert scholars (or “peers”) in the same field review the research and findings of a new piece of research (often an article) for originality and quality and make suggestions for improvement before it is published. (You may see other terms used to refer to peer-reviewed sources, such as “refereed,” “academic,” or “scholarly.”)

The peer-review process is considered more rigorous than the editorial process that popular sources like newspaper or magazine articles undergo, and, as a result, peer-reviewed sources are considered to be higher quality than popular sources.

Here are some instructions for how to filter for peer-reviewed search results in LibrarySearch.