A peer reviewed or peer refereed journal or article is one in which a group of widely acknowledged experts in a field reviews the content for scholarly soundness and academic value.
Note the Author's credentials, abstract, and citations in the text. These features indicate that the article is scholarly.
Scholarly articles often have abstracts, footnotes or citations, and list the author's credentials.
Learn more about the difference between scholarly and popular resources on our Evaluating Resources guide.
Popular articles, like this one from Scientific American may be from a reputable publication but not peer-reviewed. The Author may or may not be an academic, but the article is written for a popular audience. There are no footnotes or citations.
Learn more about the difference between scholarly and popular resources on our Evaluating Resources guide.