¶ … Scholars must use reliable information to build new conclusions and arguments of their own. If the information they use to build an argument is in any way flawed or unreliable, their entire conclusion can thus be in jeopardy. As such, one way to ensure that the information a scholar compiles is valid enough is to use peer reviewed articles from reliable academic journals. Peer reviewed articles have the their advantages, as well as some disadvantages, but in the end are the best choice for scholarly research.
In this exercise, a peer reviewed article was chosen to be used as a source of analysis for the peer review process. Leung (2013) wrote the article "Generational Differences in Content Generation in Social Media: The Roles of the Gratifications Sought and of Narcissism" for the scholarly journal Computers and Human Behavior that was accessed through the Elsevier database. The journal explores how past, recent and future computer applications impact human behavior and thinking. It incorporates elements of psychology and psychiatry with technology. Many of the articles presented include not only their own research, but also individual studies using various data. This is one of the reasons it is so critical to have the peer...
This particular article uses a telephone survey to track the social media usage of 596 users, which is then tested using factor analysis to categorize usage patterns based on five socio-psychological needs. Clearly, the paper needed to be peer reviewed to ensure the accuracy of the data collection and analysis. Moreover, the author explains his study specifically so that it may be replicated by other scholars working within the same interests, whether the field be psychology or technology. Ultimately, to ensure the data analysis and methodology were appropriate for the scope and purpose of the study, peer review measures were used.
The peer review process is critical to ensuring reliability in academic research. Not only does peer review help ensure reliability, but it also encourages better work from authors and raises expectations of work found in scholarly journals (Ware, 2008). Authors know that their work will be reviewed and thus have to stick to a higher quality of expectations with their writing level, research quality, and conclusions…
