Scholarly Journal v. Popular Magazine

Periodicals: Scholarly, Popular or Trade?

There is not always a clear-cut division between types of publications, but this table offers some clues to help you distinguish between scholarly journals, popular magazines, and trade journals. Not all features have to be present to make a publication "scholarly."

	Scholarly Journal	Popular Magazine	Trade Journal
Audience	Scholars, researchers, students of the field	General public	People in a particular industry
Written by	Specialists in the field, usually scholars with Ph.D.s	Journalists; poets and writers of fiction; essayists	Industry practitioners and professional writers
Appearance	Serious and sober, with few colors and few or no advertisements	Glossy, with pictures and advertisements	Glossy, with advertisements aimed at the industry
Coverage	Original research results and scholarship	Popular topics and current events	Industry trends, news and statistics
Articles	Are signed and often include author's credentials. Often have many joint authors. Are written in technical and scholarly language May be reviewed or "refereed" before publication by an editorial board or outside scholars	Are not always signed by the author Are written in relatively simple language	Are not always signed by the author May include jargon specific to the industry
Length	Articles are usually at least 10 pages in length	Articles are usually under 10 pages in length	Articles are usually under 10 pages in length
Slant	Supposed to present objective/neutral viewpoint; often published by professional associations, like the American Psychological Association, or by university presses	May reflect the editorial bias/slant of the magazine; usually published by commercial entities	May reflect the industry's point of view, particularly on regulatory and legislative issues; often published by trade associations or by for-profit corporations
Frequency	Usually quarterly	Usually weekly or monthly	Usually weekly or monthly
References Cited	Usually includes a bibliography and/or footnotes	Usually has no bibliography or footnotes	Few footnotes; bibliographies are rare
Examples	Journal of Applied Physics; Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport; Lancet	Newsweek, Men's Health, Sports Illustrated, Ladies' Home Journal	Advertising Age, Hotel and Motel Management; Travel Weekly, Women's Wear Daily

If you're not sure if a specific publication is a scholarly journal, a trade journal, or a magazine, ask your instructor or a reference librarian for help. Or, look up the periodical title in a reference source like UlrichsWeb (print version available: Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory [Reference Wall Z 6941 U5], Magazines for Libraries [Reference Desk PN 4832 M23], or the Serials Directory.

Take the "Identify That Periodical" Quiz Back to Step 4 Back to "Seven Steps"

Page created by Jan Lewis , based on Selecting the Right Source (UCLA), Is it a Scholarly Journal? A Magazine? A Trade Journal? (VCU), and Scholarly (Professional) Journals Versus popular (General) Magazines (U. Minn.). Last updated: 08/16/05