Peer-reviewed articles are commonly written by experts in a particular field, reviewed by the publications staff, reviewed by other experts in that field, and printed in scholarly journals that focus on that particular field of study. In meeting the requirements of this assignment, you are not looking for articles that one typically finds in general interest magazines such as Time, Newsweek, People, etc., or even professional/trade publications, such as the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, the National Institute of Justice Journal, Police Chief Magazine, etc. Rather, you are looking for scholarly journals that commonly report original research or details of theories of information that pertain to a specific field of criminal justice administration. A scholarly journal article will use specialized or technical vocabulary that is specific to that field and will provide documentation of a number of sources that will be used in the article by listing specifics in multiple footnotes or a detailed bibliography. The article will also normally include at least an overview of the academic credentials of the author. The journal in which the article appears will normally not contain advertisements. The journal’s printed distribution will normally be of a more limited nature such as to educational institutions, scholars, or professionals in that particular field. The New England Journal of Medicine is an example of one such scholarly journal from the medical field.

If you are unsure as to the meaning of terminology associated with scholarly-quality, peer-reviewed, academic-quality, or similar references to quality sources of information to be used in this course, refer to the Jerry Falwell Library, or the Liberty University Online Writing Center website. You may also review public library search engines or the library website of most major universities for assistance.