 In this tutorial, you will learn what a peer-reviewed journal is and how to distinguish peer-reviewed journals from those that are not peer-reviewed. In the world of publishing, there are three different types of periodicals. Popular magazines, trade magazines, and academic or scholarly publications, also known as peer-reviewed journals. Popular magazines are written for a general audience and include examples such as McLean's and Psychology Today. Trade magazines are written for professionals in specific fields and include examples such as Advertising Age and Broadcaster. Peer-reviewed journals are written for academic audiences or research professionals and include examples such as the Canadian Journal of Communication and the Journal of Educational Psychology. Academic researchers use peer-reviewed journals to communicate their research findings. They are the journals you should use on researching and writing university essays. There are several other characteristics to note. Articles in a peer-reviewed journal have been evaluated by experts before publication. The experts advise the journal's editor for or against publication of the articles. Research described in a peer-reviewed journal is sound and of high quality, and the process is usually blind. That is, the reviewers don't know the names of the authors and the authors don't know the names of the reviewers. If you have any questions, ask us at library.wlu.ca.