Instructors often ask students to find “scholarly”, “academic”, or “peer reviewed” sources of information for their research. These terms all refer to the same type of information – sources based on in-depth research, and are considered higher in quality and more reliable for your research.
These sources can range from chapters within books or entire books, or journal articles, but all have common characteristics that can help you recognize that type of information.
Scholarly journals contain articles based on facts and research. Not all scholarly journals are peer-reviewed, however. The journals marked with an asterisk (*) below are noted as being peer-reviewed.
Civil/Environmental Engineering Scholarly Journals:
Trade publications are focused on practical information for those within a specific field. Although not peer-reviewed, these journals offer useful knowledge for practitioners and are valuable resources. Some other characteristics of trade journals include: