Is a literature review supposed to include only peer-reviewed sources in an ESL composition course?

Totally get the frustration, that peer-reviewed rabbit hole can eat up an entire afternoon. Short answer: yes, you can absolutely use non-peer-reviewed sources in an ESL composition literature review, as long as you’re thoughtful about it. In most composition courses, the standard is “credible and appropriate,” not “exclusively peer-reviewed,” so your professor’s wording about credible sources is actually your best clue. Think of peer-reviewed articles as the backbone of your lit review, the scholarly foundation you’re building your argument on. Other sources like reports from reputable organizations, government publications, educational websites from universities, or established professional associations can absolutely serve as supporting evidence. The trick is knowing what role each source plays. If you’ve found something useful from, say, a well-known organization that’s clearly written by experts and backed by solid data, that’s typically fine. But you’ll want to flag those sources clearly in your writing, maybe noting who published them and why that makes them trustworthy. Peer-reviewed journal articles show you’ve engaged with the academic conversation, and that’s usually what earns the most credit in a lit review. Non-peer-reviewed sources show you can think critically and pull from a wider range of credible voices. A good balance looks something like this: mostly peer-reviewed sources to ground your argument, with a few carefully chosen non-peer-reviewed sources to bring in real-world context or current perspectives that haven’t hit journals yet. Since you’ve got two weeks, try focusing your database searches on terms like “peer-reviewed,” “scholarly journals,” or “academic articles,” and use your university library’s filters, which can save you a lot of guesswork. If you find a great non-peer-reviewed source, ask yourself whether it could reasonably be replaced by a peer-reviewed one, and if not, then include it and explain why it’s credible. You’re clearly putting real effort into getting this right, and that kind of careful thinking is exactly what your professor is hoping to see. You’ve got this.