Question

What does it mean to say that a journal and the articles published in it are peer-reviewed?

Answer 1

Articles submitted by expert authors in peer-reviewed journals are reviewed by their peers before publication. These journals have an editorial board who ask the subject expert peers to crtically review and evaluate the submitted articles. The author's submitted scholarly work, ideas expressed and conclusion drawn are subjected to scrutiny in the review process. The quality,  novelty and significance of submissions are evaluated. This process is important as it ensures quality, accuracy and originality of the published material. Depending on the review and evaluation, the article is accepted or rejected for publication in the journal. Journals that employ such a rigorous peer review system are called peer-reviewed or refereed journals.

Peer-reviewed articles are those which have been subjected to critical evaluation by subject experts (peers) before publication and the journals publishing them are called peer-reviewed or refereed journals.