RE: How many (peer reveiwed) journals are there?

["Sally Morris \(Morris Associates\)" <sally@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk>]

I agree with Robert Richards:  the trouble with Ulrich's is that 
it's publisher-completed

Some (especially in non-English speaking countries) don't know of 
its existence

Some don't update their entries

And it's entirely dependent on the judgement of the person 
completing the entry as to how they categorise the journal; 
there is no definition of 'peer-reviewed', and there are no 
checks.  Many journals (including the one I edit - and major 
'hybrid' journals such as BMJ, for that matter) have peer review 
for some content (e.g. research articles) but not for other less 
scholarly items.

But as Robert says, there is no 'standard' for peer review 
anyway;  Irene Hames' book on the subject is probably the 
closest;  perhaps this is something on which the publishing 
industry and the scholarly and library communities could usefully 
work together?

Sally Morris
Consultant, Morris Associates (Publishing Consultancy)
Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK
Email:  sally@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk