Tips for the Class Assignment
- Look for the methods and results sections. Generally, the inclusion of these sections will indicate that the article contains original research. Examples: an original research article and a review article.
- Read the methods section. Do the methods match the requirements of this assignment?
- Methods that work:
- Methods that don't work:
- interviews, focus groups, questionnaires or surveys, is not going to work for this assignment (here is an example)
- meta-analysis will not work either (They will have a methods section explaining how they gathered, combined, and analyzed data from multiple original research articles by other authors. here is an example)
If the article contains original research and has a methods section that fits the assignment requirements, it has probably been peer reviewed. However, if you want to confirm whether the journal uses peer review when they publish articles you can check their website for indications of peer review. Some sections to look for on the journal's website include: Aim & Scope, Instructions for Authors, Guidelines for Authors, Author Guidelines, Author Resources, Contribute, or Submit. Here is an example from Agronomy Journal.
