Peer Review
A publication is considered scholarly if it is authored by academic or professional researchers and targetted at an academic or related audience. Its aim will be to advance knowledge on a topic as well as report on or support research needs. Before being considered for publication most scholarly articles will be refereed or peer-reviewed by experts working largely in the subject field.
This means that the article will undergo an official editorial process that involves review and approval by the author's peers (people who are experts in the same subject area.). Refereeing practices vary between journals. Generally articles are evaluated by two independent assessors, who are looking for originality, validity and quality. This is usually done anonymously.
Why is peer-review important?
The process of peer-review seeks to maintain the quality and integrity of the content published in a particular journal. Your track-record of publication in peer-reviewed journals can be an important factor when applying to funding bodies for research funding.
How do I know if a journal is peer-reviewed?
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory is a valuable source of information on journal titles. Search this database by journal title and a peer-reviewed journal will have a "refereed" icon next to its title. 
Alternatively, click on a journal's title for more information about the journal, including whether or not it is peer-reviewed. This information may also be included in an editor's 'aims' statement at the front of the journal itself.
Some indexing databases only index the contents of journals that are peer-reviewed. For example Web of Science.
