What Type of Periodical Do You Have?

Journal? Trade Publication? Magazine?
What Type of Periodical Do You Have?

Here's How to Tell!


Scholarly Journal	Trade Publication	Popular Magazine
Intended for professionals and scholars in the field	Intended for professionals in the field, people w/an insider's knowledge	Intended for a wide audience who have no special knowledge of the subject
Articles written and reviewed prior to publication by specialists in the field—sometimes called refereed or peer-reviewed journals	Articles are largely written by the editorial staff w/special features contributed by industry professionals	Articles are written and reviewed by the editorial and reporting staff as well as freelance journalists
Authors' credentials are included	Authors' names are provided, although some articles may be anonymous	Authors' names are provided, although some articles may not be credited
Abstracts, research data, bibliography, and citations to sources are provided	Features may include abstracts and references, but most articles will not	No abstracts, data, citations or bibliography
Limited illustration, articles formatted identically	Limited illustration, articles tend to be formatted the same way	Lots of visual interest (artwork, photography, illustration, fancy typefaces); different articles frequently have different presentation styles
Article titles are lengthy and descriptive	Article titles tend to be short and attention getting	Articles titles are short and attention-grabbing and are designed to look "fun" to read
Advertising, if present, is minimal and professional in nature—for professional publications, organizations, or conferences	Advertising is professionally directed, but there tends to be a lot of it	Advertising is flashy, is typically for general consumer products and is aimed at a broad audience
Journal titles are long and tend to include the words: "Journal," "Studies," or "Association"	Trade publications have short, informative titles, often emphasizing timeliness	Magazine titles are often short and memorable
Examples: Journal of Marriage and the Family, JAMA, and the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (JOPERD)	Advertising Age, Successful Farming, Industry Week	Newsweek, Psychology Today, Better Homes and Gardens, New Yorker
Deciding What Kind of Source You Have in a Database
When looking for scholarly articles: look for a long list of references at the end and data presented in the article itself. Review the abstract for a description of "this study".	Most articles are short and newsy. Research is referred to in the third person: A study at the University of Illinois found... The occasional research article tends to be professionally focused (salaries, burnout, etc.).	These will be short articles, rarely more than 4-5 pages at the most. Any research will be referred to in the the third person: A study at the University of Illinois found... The language will include a lot of adjectives and active verbs and be easy to read.

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