Mechanical Engineering

Popular: Sources published in newspapers and magazines intended for general audience. 

Scholarly: Well researched sources that have been written for scholars, students, and experts in the discipline area.

Peer Reviewed: Articles that have been evaluated by other professionals in the field to check for accuracy and adherence to disciplinary standards.

Know the Difference

Article: Articles are the individual "stories" published in a newspaper, magazine, or journal. For example, the story about the Rangers published in Sports Illustrated is an article.

Journal: Journals contain several articles published about a specific subject area and are typically scholarly. For example, the article about stem cells was published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

Database: Databases index millions of articles published in thousands of newspapers, magazines, and journals. There are databases that index sources from many different discipline areas, while others are subject specific. For example, the New York Times can be accessed by searching the database Nexis Uni.

What is Peer Review?

Peer review, also called refereeing, is a prepublication process used by most scholarly journals. Before an article is accepted for publication, the editors will send the manuscript to outside experts for review. The reviewers will then provide feedback on the quality of the research in the paper. The author can usually make revisions and resubmit the work for final acceptance.

Why do I care if an article is peer-reviewed?

Peer-reviewed articles are the gold standard for academic research. For students, it means that other experts have read and approved the methods and conclusions of the work, providing extra authority to the piece.

How do I find peer-reviewed articles?

Use subject databases that specialize in the field, which are more likely to include peer-reviewed journals. Many databases also include a "peer-reviewed articles only" checkbox.

Where can I learn more?

Get a quick introduction to peer review, find advanced materials, even learn about what happens when peer review doesn't happen at  Scrutinizing Science from Understanding Science: How Science Really Works.

How can I be sure an article is peer-reviewed?

A quick way to tell if an article is peer-reviewed is to look for "submitted/revised/accepted" dates on the first page of the article. These tell you the dates the article went through the various steps of the peer-review process.

If the articles does not display clear received/revised/accepted dates, the most authoritative place to look is the journal's homepage. Do a Google search for the name of the journal. Look for a description of the journal that says "peer-reviewed" on its homepage. Also, look at the information for journal editors, article authors, or review policy pages. These will often detail the peer-review process for each journal, including which sections of the journal are reviewed and which are merely edited.

The CRAAP test is a valuable tool for helping you determine if an article you are reading is credible and a good fit to use as a source for your research paper. As you read, pay attention to the 6 following criteria.

1. Currency: When was the information published or last updated? Is it current enough for your topic?
2. Relevance: Is this information that you are looking for? Is it related to your topic? Is it detailed enough to help you answer questions on your topic.
3. Authority: Who is the author or creator of the information (can be an individual or an organization)? Are they an expert on your topic? Has the source been peer reviewed? Who is the publisher? Are they reputable?
4. Accuracy: Is the information true? What information does the author cite or refer to? Can you find this information anywhere else? Can you find evidence to back it up from another source? Are studies mentioned but not cited? Can you locate those studies?
5. Purpose/perspective: What is the purpose of the information? Was it written to sell something or to convince you of something? Is this fact or opinion based? Is it unfairly biased?

Use the template below to chart each of these criteria in the articles you use for your research paper.