Geography & Environmental Studies Research Guide

All library resources are available to students. You will need your NetID and password to access the resources from off campus.

You may come across a research assignment that restricts the sources that you may use to only scholarly and/or peer reviewed sources. The terms are used almost interchangeably in an academic setting, but here are the basic definitions:

Scholarly sources: Articles or books that are written by a scholar or a professional in the field and are often used to report original research or experimentation; usually includes specialized vocabulary and are aimed at an academic audience.

Peer Reviewed sources: Many scholarly journals use a process of peer review prior to publishing an article, whereby other scholars or experts in the author's field or specialty critically assess a draft of the article. This process helps ensure that the published articles reflect solid scholarship in their fields. Peer-reviewed journals are also called refereed journals

How can you tell if if a particular article is peer-reviewed? Often the website of the journal in which it was published will tell you if it is a peer reviewed journal or not, or you can use Ulrich's Periodical Directory (usually found either in print or online at most college libraries) to look up a journal title to find out this information. And of course, you can always ask your nearest librarian for help!

These are some of the most influential scholarly journals in Geography and Environmental Studies, which the library has in full-text.