Click on each title to see available issues. Note that a few of the journals have embargoes. An embargo is when publishers restrict access to current journal issues.

Why use Ulrichsweb?

• Find out if a particular journal is peer reviewed
• Find out which databases index a journal

How to use Ulrich's Web to determine if an article is in a peer-reviewed journal:

1. Ulrich's can tell you whether a journal is peer-reviewed, not individual articles (but, research articles in a peer-reviewed journal will be peer-reviewed).

2. Go to Ulrich's Web database from a GVSU link, either on a subject guide or from the database list, or use this link: Ulrichsweb

3. Enter the name of the journal/magazine (not the article or author!).

4. For example, I recently found this article through PubMed database. Notice the journal title is "Pediatric Obesity" (or Pediatr Obes for short):

5. Next, go to Ulrichsweb and type in Pediatric Obesity. This is what the results look like:

6. There are 2 versions of Pediatric Obesity, print and online. In either case, there is a "refereed" symbol (red circle) next to the journal name. This means the   journal is "refereed," which is another way of saying peer-reviewed.

     NOTE: not every article in a peer-reviewed journal may be peer-reviewed; commentary, news and opinion pieces usually are not peer-reviewed.

This 3-minute video from North Carolina State University explains the peer review process and why it's important.

What is peer-review?
Peer-review is an important additional step in the publishing process for some journals. Articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals must be reviewed by at least one expert in the field. The reviewer is evaluating the research presented in the article. Basically, articles that pass the peer-review process are published in the journal; those that don't pass are not published.
 

How do you I know if a journal is peer-reviewed (also called refereed)?

• One of the easiest ways is to do a web search for the journal and go to its homepage. Go to the about us section (or something similar) and you should find information about whether or not the journal is peer-reviewed. For example, search for "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" (be sure to include the quotation marks). You'll find a link to the journal in the search results; click on the link and look to see information on the journal.
• Most of our databases allow you to limit search results to academic, peer reviewed, or scholarly journal. While all academic and scholarly journals aren't necessarily peer reviewed, most are.
• If you have a print copy of a journal, look inside the front cover or the first few pages where information about the journal appears. 

How can I tell if I have a research article?

• Is there a methods and/or materials section? 
• Is there a results section? 
• Is there a discussion section? 
• Is the article testing a hypothesis? 

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are you have a research article. If you are unsure, ask a librarian!