Q. What books are (scholarly) peer-reviewed?

Scholarly or peer-reviewed books are written by scholars, experts, and researchers in their respective fields (e.g. Biblical Studies, Theology, Anthropology, etc.). A scholarly book may include any of the following: a foreword or preface written by another scholar, an introduction that outlines the entire book and describes the author's research goal, or a bibliography or list of references that an author consulted or cited in their research.

Scholarly books use a professional language relevant to the field of study and are intended for students, instructors, and researchers. Some of these books may be edited by an editor or a group of editors who are experts in the area of study.  

 

There are many publishers that specialize in producing academic and scholarly books. You can check a publisher website and learn about its area of focus (popular works or scholarly, or both). 

 

While there is no filter to limit your search to scholarly books in our library catalog and databases, you can evaluate a book on the criteria included in these notes.

Most of the books in our collections are scholarly. In our library collections, you will find many books from the following scholarly publishers:

 

Academic Publishers	Publishers by Specialization
Abingdon Press	Baptist Publishers: Broadman Press, Convention Press, Broadman & Holman, Smyth & Helwys, Judson Press
Baker Academic	The Grand Rapids Bunch (Reformed/ Calvinist & Evangelical): Zondervan, William B. Eerdmans, Baker Books, Fleming H. Revell, Kregel Books.
Brill	Evangelical, conservative, and scholarly: Hendrickson, Thomas Nelson, InterVarsity Press, Providence House, Mercer University Press, Trinity Press, Tyndale House, Word Books, Crossway Books.
Cambridge University Press	Moderate to Critical scholarship: Fortress Press, Abingdon Press, Charles Scribner’s sons, Harper & Row, T & T Clark, HarperCollins,  Harper SanFrancisco, Prentice-Hall, Macmillian, Aldine De Gruyter, University Press of America, Doubleday, Oxford University Press, SCM Press
De Gruyter	Catholic Offerings: St. Anthony Messenger Press, St. Bede’s, Franciscan Press, Paulist Press, Liguori, Pauline Pres, Orbis Books, Michael Glazier, Liturgical Press, St. Martin’s
Eerdmans	Other Denominational Presses: Augsburg, Concordia, Pilgrim Press, Morehouse, Eisenbraums, Westminster John Knox Press, Cokesbury, Friends United Press
Fortress Press	Other Offerings: Swedenborg, Unity Books, Beacon Press, Review and Herald publishing, College Press, Jewish Publication Society
IVP Academic
Oxford University Press
Other university publishers
T & T Clark/ Bloomsbury
Zondervan Academic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of examples that might help you to understand a difference between a scholarly book and less scholarly book intended for the general audience.
 

1. Barton, John, and John Muddiman. 2007. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.