Writing in the Natural Sciences: Home

This guide has been created for students in NSCI:521: Writing and Publishing Science. However, if you need more specialized sources, take a look at the list of subject guides.

For help with choosing a topic, evaluating resources, putting together your paper, and compiling a bibliography, check out the research guide Research A-Z.

How do you find out if a journal is peer-reviewed or refereed?  Here are three possible methods.

Check Ulrich's Periodical Directory  this source provides information about whether a specific journal is refereed, as well as the publisher, cost, and frequency of a journal.  It does not provide any information about the articles published in a journal.  Search for the title of a journal, then look for the icon that designates refereed titles.

Check the journal's guidelines for article submission.  Some journals' guidelines state clearly that the journal uses a peer-review process.  In others, the guidelines say to send three or more copies of the manuscript, which is an indication that the peer-review process is used.

Some indexes allow you to "filter" the results by whether the journal is refereed.