Peer-review 9/24/12

Scholarly books and articles go through the peer review process to make sure that the work/research done by one scholar (professor, scientist, specialist, etc.) is valid and correct. But, just because it’s peer-reviewed, it doesn’t mean it is completely accurate. Peer- reviewers are only human, and in that sense, they also tend to make mistakes. But, that doesn’t mean that works that are not peer-reviewed are correct either. They could be, or could not be entirely factual. It just depends on the sources used. To know if an article or book is peer-reviewed is sometimes difficult, because it may not have it listed. If it is, you can look at the beginning or end of the book or article, where the author may have written something toward the peer reviewers or about the peer-reviewers. Some library databases may have a category in which you can narrow your search down to peer-reviewed material. Whenever I do any kind of research, I would want someone to check over my work to make sure I’ve hit my main points and have used accurate sources. I would ask any professor available, a librarian, maybe even my 15 year old daughter who is very intellectual. Especially with this research project, I would want to ask her or some football players I know of to help me make sure my information is relevant. In a way, I’ve used peer-review all my life. Whenever I second-guess myself, I ask multiple people who I trust, what their thoughts are on a subject. I can sometimes have a hard time with grammar, punctuation, and spelling, so my daughter is the go-to person for those errors. When it’s something related to my work I would ask people I have worked with in the past, and those who I respect in my line of work, to clarify things for me.

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