Scholarly, Popular, and Trade Journals

  Scholarly Journals

  These journals have articles written by experts in a specific discipline. The articles present original  
  research, reviews of research or theoretical positions. Each discipline has its own scholarly journals (ex:
  Journal of Educational Psychology and Journal of Popular Culture).

Main Characteristics

• May have an editorial board composed of experts in the discipline

• Often published by a scholarly professional association

• May contain articles that are peer-reviewed or refereed (the articles have been reviewed by experts in the field and approved for publication; reviewers suggest improvements or corrections to be made before publication)

• Authors are usually affiliated with a university or research center

• Articles may be lengthy and list references in footnotes or endnotes

• The articles are written in the language of the discipline or field

• Articles may report on original research or experimentation, or original interpretations of topics and works

• Generally have few advertisements

                             

  Popular Magazines

  Popular magazines include recreational, news and opinion magazines. Recreational magazines are written for   general entertainment (ex: People, Cosmopolitan and Reader’s Digest). News magazines include general 
  articles about current events and are written for the general public (ex.: Time). Opinion magazines offer
  commentary about current events from a specific point of view (ex: The Nation, and The New Republic).

Main Characteristics

• Authors are usually staff members of the magazine or freelance writers

• Articles seldom have footnotes or sources of information

• Articles tend to be short. They are written to inform or entertain the general public

• Articles may be illustrated with color photographs and illustrations

• Contains advertisements aimed at the general public

• Are readily available for purchase (grocery stores, newsstands)

                                    

  Trade/Professional Journals

  Trade/professional journals are written for practitioners in applied fields (ex: Library Journal and Advertising 
  Age)

Main Characteristics

• Articles frequently focus on issues associated with a particular business or industry

• Articles are usually not a reflection of original research, but report on issues or events

• Articles of interest to people in that profession or industry

• Articles generally provide journalistic coverage rather than academic coverage

• Articles are not peer-reviewed.

• Articles may have few or no footnotes

• Advertisements are aimed at people in that profession or industry