United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

FAQ: Peer-Reviewed/Refereed Journals in PubMed

Question: Are the journals in PubMed® peer-reviewed? Where can I find a list of peer-reviewed/refereed journals?

Answer:

Most journals in PubMed are peer-reviewed or refereed. Non-editorial journal staff review original articles before the articles are accepted for publication.

Criteria for peer review and the qualifications of peers or referees vary among publishers.

We have no list of peer-reviewed/refereed journals in PubMed; and you cannot limit your search to peer-reviewed journals using PubMed.

Check your local library for other sources of identified or listed peer-reviewed/refereed journal titles (according to the publisher). For example:

Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, which lists journals as refereed or peer reviewed.
Bowker's Medical and Health Care Books and Serials in Print (published every year). In the Serials volume, look at the sample entry. The entry shows a symbol in front of a title of a refereed journal.
The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) database for the Peer Reviewed subset.

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/peerrev.html

Last reviewed: 07 May 2009
Last updated: 07 May 2009
First published: 25 January 2002
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