Peer review is a process that some scholarly journal publishers use to ensure the articles they publish represent the best scholarship currently available. Peer reviewed journals are sometimes called refereed journals. When an article is submitted to a peer reviewed journal, the editors send it out to other scholars in the same field to get their opinion on the quality of the scholarship and its relevance and importance to the field. This means that when an article is finally published in a peer reviewed publication, there is a consensus among experts that the information disseminated in that article is of the highest quality.
An article in a peer reviewed journal is always considered a credible source of information.
This excellent video tutorial, produced by NCSU Libraries, explains peer review in 3 easy minutes!
Peer Reviewed Journals (also called Refereed or Scholarly Journals) are journals that require that articles they publish be read and edited by a group of subject experts before accepting an article for publication. These experts do not know who has written the article; they read carefully and check to ensure that the information in the article can be substantiated by the research that was carried out. After reviewing the article, the editorial board recommends that the article be accepted, rejected, or revised and resubmitted. All articles accepted for publication are expected to meet certain standards within the field of study.
Some key characteristics will help you distinguish between research and review articles. A research article is describes an experiment that attempts to solve or address a very specific problem/issue. These articles always contain the standard sections:
Abstract - This is a brief paragraph description of the inner-workings of the article. The abstract allows scholars and scientists to ascertain what the article is about in just a few seconds.
Introduction - This section states the purpose of the article, defining the problem and putting it into context. It may include a review of the published literature on the topic.
Review of literature - This section is usually located just after the research description. The review summarizes the results of other experiments that have been done in the past.
Method - This section contains a detailed description of the approach the researchers have taken to test the idea, problem, or issue.
Results - The Results of the experiment or test is explained after the Method description.
Discussion or Conclusion - This is where the researchers interpret the results of the experiment or test and create meaning.
The research article always ends with a "Bibliography" or "References" or "Works Cited" section.
This interactive tutorial (hosted by NCSU Library System) illustrates the components of a journal article:
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/scholarly-articles/