A peer-reviewed or refereed journal is:

• A group of articles usually written by scholars in an academic or professional field
• The articles have been reviewed by an editorial board (other scholars in the field) to decide whether they should be accepted.
• Articles in these journals can cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research.
• Since journals are published on a regular or periodic basis they are grouped in the category called "periodicals."
• Electronic journals, called e-journals, are published on the Web by some scholarly organizations and are made available to you from your library.
• The articles are often lengthy, always cite sources and have bibliographies.
• They may have have charts, graphs and statistical information.
• The articles may report on original research or experiments and are geared toward professionals in the field.