Privileging Peer Review: Implications for Undergraduates

Abstract

Librarians and teaching faculty privilege peer review articles out of ideals rooted in academic culture more then for pedagogical reasons. Undergraduates would find greater benefit in the opportunity to search and critique sources related to their personal and creative interests as well as relevant to academic research projects. Librarians can adopt the role of change-agents by engaging relevant teaching faculty in discussions about the goal of research assignments relative to peer review literature. Framing this discussion is Paulo Freire's theory of banking information discussed in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000).

Keywords

• information literacy; peer review; undergraduates; undergraduate students; Paulo Freire; critical thinking; academic culture; academic specialization; higher education; credibility of sources; authority of sources; tenure; assignment design;