The source of ecological information I chose from my bookshelf was the four-volume set: The Birds of British Columbia written by R. Wayne Campbell et al and published by UBC Press. This set falls into the category of academic peer-reviewed review material. This set is written by subject matter experts in the field of ornithology, contains in-text citations, and has a bibliography. It is not research material because it doesn’t contain a study with methods and results sections. Volume 4 also contains a list of reviewers and their area(s) of expertise (~2 pages worth) in the “acknowledgments” section at the front of the book, along with other contributors to the work.
Here is a link to the publisher’s website (for Volume 4):
At the bottom of the webpage there is a tab about the authors with their expertise and professional affiliations. There is also a tab showing the table of contents confirming my observations that there are references cited but no methods and results sections.
Books like this are tricky as they do often list several reviewers; however, it is not the same as a rigorous peer review process that scientific journals put material through. This is something you could use as a background reference for methods for your study though not something that is that useful for building the introduction / discussion portions of your research.