Library:Scholarly versus Popular Sources/Confirm

Confirm

You can confirm your assessment of a particular article or book by checking out:

• Book Reviews: will generally include assessments of the book's quality, accuracy, validity, objectivity etc and may also mention any other form of peer review to which it has been subjected.
• Ulrich's: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory is a bibliographic database providing detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative information on serials published throughout the world - including whether or not a particular journal is referred.
• Peer Review filters: Most databases and many library catalogues offer users the ability to click a box on the results page which will limit to items that have been peer-reviewed.
  • Use this feature carefully as some products automatically eliminate all book results regardless of review status.
• Publisher's website: Use the publisher's website to look for information about the review process for its titles. This is especially crucial for scholarly books as not all academic presses are able to provide a rigorous editorial review by the author's peers.
• Preface: Scan the preface and other introductory pages of academic books for details about the editorial board, such as affiliation, degrees held, areas of current research etc. You can also confirm board members' credentials on their professional webpages or departmental websites.