"referee, v. 1. a. intransitive. To officiate or act as a referee. b. transitive. To preside over (a game, match, debate, etc.) as a referee; to act as a referee in. 2. transitive. To examine and evaluate (an academic paper, thesis, etc.), esp. for publication. " OED
Referred sources are also known as a peer-reviewed sources. The term “referee” refers to the fact that during the peer-review process, articles are reviewed by at least one expert in the field. The reviewer or “referee” is evaluating the research presented in the article. Articles that pass this process are published in the journal and considered peer-reviewed or refereed; those that don't pass are not published.
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