What does "peer-reviewed" mean?
- Peer Review in 3 Minutes (video)Learn what peer review is and how research is published in this short video from the North Carolina State University Libraries.
Peer-review is a process by which an article is evaluated by experts in the field, i.e., the author's scholarly peers. The reviewers provide their opinion on whether the article should be published. Articles from peer-reviewed journals should be more trustworthy than materials from sources that are not reviewed, such as newsletters or most websites.
How do I search for peer-reviewed articles?
Some (not all) databasess allow you to limit your search to peer-reviewed journals. First, run your search. On the results screen, you'll see ways to limit your search on the left-hand side of the screen. Click on the limit labeled "Peer Reviewed."
Search guides
- Searching EBSCO databases demo (6 min video)Quick lesson about how to effectively use the features on the EBSCO platform
- The best databases you aren't using (7 min video)Brief introduction to 2 great databases: JSTOR and Web of Science
- Database Search Lesson - PPT slides (click here to view)This short PPT lesson explains how to navigate the library webpage, and find and use databases
Take advantage of the chat feature on the main library webpage to chat with a librarian 24 hours a day:
- Searching EBSCO databases demo (6 min video)Quick lesson about how to effectively use the features on the EBSCO platform
- Pathfinder illustration (click here to view)This 2 page document explains how to navigate the EBSCO interface
- Cinahl--Part I (YouTube) 2:07For Allied Health (Social Work, Communication Sciences & Disorders, etc.) & Nursing. From Seminole State Library.
- CINAHL search guide (click here to view)This 2 page document explains how to navigate the CINAHL interface
Academic Databases
There are many databases with information relevant to special education and visual impairment. Here are some of the best places to start your search.
For assistance choosing a database or for any other questions, send an email to the Subject Librarian or use the Ask Us 24/7 chat service.
If you need an article that UND does not provide full text for, request it for free through the interlibrary loan service.
- Educator's Reference Complete (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowMore than 1,100 periodicals & 200 reports from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
- ERIC (EBSCO Education Resources Information Center) This link opens in a new windowJournal articles and reports in education.
- Teacher Reference Center This link opens in a new windowIndex of journals for teachers and administrators
- Professional Development Collection This link opens in a new windowA collection designed for professional educators of over 500 education journals. Contains more than 200 educational reports.
Your research on special education and visual impairment might include research from medicine, counseling, and psychology; try the following databases:
- MedlinePlus This link opens in a new windowMEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA and MEDICAL DICTIONARY. Useful for specific diseases, consumer health information, lists of hospitals and physicians, health information in Spanish and other languages, and clinical trials.
- PsychiatryOnline This link opens in a new windowPsychiatryOnline includes DSM-IV-TR and The American Journal of Psychiatry as well as a collection of other psychiatric references, including books, journals, and self-assessment tools.
- PsycINFO (APA) This link opens in a new windowAbstracts and citations to the scholarly literature in the behavioral sciences and mental health. Includes full text articles from journals published by the APA and other top psychology journals.
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowMEDLINE biomedical database. Molecular biology databases of DNA/protein sequences and 3-D structure data.
- Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers an enormous collection of full-text journals, providing users access to critical information from many sources unique to this database. In addition, it includes peer-reviewed full text for STEM research, as well as for the social sciences and humanities. Scholarly content covers a broad range of important areas of academic study, including anthropology, engineering, law, sciences and more.
- Elsevier ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowFull-text access to journals published by Elsevier Science.
- Gale Academic OneFile Select This link opens in a new windowScholarly journals, news magazines, and newspaper content covering all disciplines.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAn archive of important scholarly journals, eBooks and primary sources in 75 disciplines. Offers high-resolution, scanned images of journal issues and pages as originally published.
- Sage Journals Online This link opens in a new windowFull-text of articles is available for journals 1999 to present.
- SpringerLink This link opens in a new windowJournals, books, series, and protocols in biomedicine, life science, clinical medicine, physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, humanities, and economics.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science provides indexing, full text linking, and citation tracking for articles from vetted, high quality journals in all disciplines (arts and humanities, social sciences, business and sciences), as well as author and journal metrics. Cited Reference Search includes books, artwork, and other cited works. Analyze results identifies frequent authors, funders, universities, and journals for a search or topic. Subscription excludes SMHS and Law Library Patrons.
- Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new windowIn 2008 merged with Blackwell Synergy to deliver 1400 Wiley-Blackwell journals, and more than 6000 online books, reference works, databases, protocols and other electronic resources through one integrated service.
Google Scholar can be a great resource when you're trying to find related articles for your topic. It's also helpful if you're having difficulty finding resources on a topic where there might be a limited amount of available published literature or if you've found some good articles but they're not the most recent publications.
Access Google Scholar from Quick Links on the Library homepage. In Google Scholar, paste in the title of an article you've found. Look for the Cited By link underneath the article info. For the example below, 88 articles have cited the Oakleaf & Kaske article since it was published in 2009. By clicking on Cited By, you would see the information for the 88 articles. Look for the PDF or FindIt@UND button to access the articles.
Pro-tip: Don't see the FindIt@UND button next to an article you need for your research? Get it through our Interlibrary Loan service.