There are two types of ERIC records: journal articles and other documents.

Journal articles in ERIC are in published journals in the field of education and related disciplines. However, not all articles are in peer-reviewed journals. Check the scholarly/peer-reviewed limiter in the database to limit your search to only peer-reviewed journals. All journal articles in ERIC have a six digit number that begins with EJ (ERIC Journal), i.e. EJ718509.

Documents in ERIC are unpublished materials such as conference research reports, Department of Education hearings, bibliographies, state education reports, etc. They are for the most part not considered peer-reviewed literature. They can provide background information on a topic and also may lead you to other resources that are peer-reviewed. You can also identify these types of documents in the article record by a six digit number than begins with ED (ERIC Document), i.e. ED489769.

The Database Guide: ERIC provides more information and instructions.