Journal Articles

The official report of research, published in a peer-reviewed, or refereed journal.

The terms peer review and refereeing refer to the process of screening articles before they are approved for publication. Reviewers are other psychology professionals (scholars and/or practitioners) and they evaluate articles submitted according to such criteria as:

Sound methodology -- is the method by which these data were gathered consistent with normal and accepted practice within the discipline? Conclusions -- are the conclusions consistent with the data gathered? Significance -- is the research trivial within the context of the discipline? What contribution is it making to the disciplinary knowledge base?
Approval for publication does not necessarily mean the research findings are true. This validation can only come as the research is repeated in various contexts and its results are tested.