Answered By: Sarah Cox
Last Updated: May 27, 2025     Views: 55

For most purposes, scholarly and peer-reviewed journals are very similar—but there is a slight distinction.

  • Scholarly journals are written by experts for an academic audience. They typically:

    • Report on original research, theory, or methodology
    • Include in-depth analysis
    • Always have a bibliography or references
  • Peer-reviewed journals are a type of scholarly journal where each article is reviewed by a panel of subject experts before publication. These reviewers check for:

    • Accuracy
    • Clarity
    • Relevance
    • Sound research design

While not all scholarly journals are peer-reviewed, all peer-reviewed journals are scholarly. You may also hear them referred to as academic or refereed journals.