A "refereed" or "peer-reviewed" article is a scholarly work that was reviewed by the scholar's peers, meaning other scholars in the field. This is an important part of the research process since it allows other scholars to provide input on the accuracy and methods of the research. Only scholars or experts in a field write a refereed article. It is generally published in academic journals.

A general magazine article is often written by someone who is not a specialist in the field. A good example of this would be Newsweek or Time articles--they are written by journalists who have done research on the topic they are writing on, but are not necessarily scholars in that topic. They are writing for general readership rather than on a level that only other scholars could understand.

Gale Databaseand Academic Search Premier both give you the option to limit your search to refereed journal articles.

In Infotrac, click on the "More Search Options" (in green) under the search box. This allows you to select "peer-reviews publications" which is the same as refereed articles. You will see tabs across the top of your list of articles. The list should be under "Academic Journals."

In Academic Search Premier, you will see a choice for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals. Be sure and put a check in that box before doing your search.