Many databases allow you to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles.
To find out if a journal is peer reviewed (i.e. evaluated by other scholars working in the same field), consult Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, Journal Guide or QOAM (Quality Open Access Market).
See also: Journal Metrics, Journal Finder, and How to Assess a Journal [PDF]
Keeping Up-to-date with Research
To search for an open access version of any article, use dissem.in, Unpaywall or openaccessbutton.
This research guide by Téa Rokolj is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0