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Social Sciences Guide to Research

What is Peer Review?

Peer review is the process where prior to publication a journal publisher sends out a submitted article to experts in the field for review and critique.

NOTE: Not all academic articles are peer reviewed.

Confused by what ‘peer reviewed’ means? This video will tell you and explain how it works. (2:11)

Transcript (PDF) | Transcript (.docx)

The Peer Review Process

The Peer Review Process First an article is submitted by an author to a publisher/journal. An editor then assesses the article and either rejects it if it doesn’t fit the scope of the journal, or sends it along to 2 or 3 other experts in the field who will review the article for quality/methodology/data/appropriateness etc. The reviews are then assessed by the editor, who will then 1) reject the article, 2) send it back out for further review, 3) accept the article, or 4) most likely, send it back to the author and let them know that the reviewers required revisions before the article could be published. In the case of a ‘revisions required’ decision, the author would make the necessary revisions, submit the article again, and start the cycle back at the beginning. Once the article has been accepted, it moves onto formatting and production before it is finally published.

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