What’s the DifferenceBetween Scholarly Journals
andPopular Magazines?
Who wrote the article?
Scholarly
• Signed by the author• Written by scholar or
expert• Provides author’s
credentials and affiliations• May have multiple
authors
Popular• Most articles are
unsigned• Written by journalist, staff,
or free-lance writer
Scholarly• Sources cited:
bibliography or reference list
• Endnotes & footnotes
• Written using specialized language of the discipline
• May have an abstract
Characteristics
Popular•Probably doesn’t contain bibliographies
•Written for a broad audience
Editorial Oversight
ScholarlyControlled by peer review or referee process
What is Peer-reviewed or refereed?
(See next slide)
Popular•Reviewed or assigned by editor
•Publication may do fact checking, spell checking and grammar
Peer-review process
1. Author writes &
submits article manuscript to
journal
2. Journal Editor sends manuscript to expert reviewers to evaluate
quality of research, write-up, and conclusions
3.Expert reviewers return manuscript to editor with
suggestions for changes, if any, or recommendations to
publish or not to publish
4. Editor reviews
suggestions & returns
manuscript to author for revision
5. Author revises
manuscript and resubmits
6. Journal Editor includes in
Journal issue
Appearance & Frequency
Scholarly• Published quarterly or
monthly• Utilitarian appearance,
few photographs
Popular•Published monthly, weekly or daily
•Contain many advertisements
•Journal may be in the title (Ladies Home Journal), but the publication isn’t scholarly
Content
Scholarly• Focus on narrow
subject, detailed analysis
• Longer articles, usually about research
• Charts, graphs or tables
Popular•Articles of general interest or current news•Short articles (less than 5 pages)•Lots of photographs and glossy paper, eye-catching graphics and layout
Publisher
Scholarly• Published by
professional association or academic press
• Many journals use successive pagination throughout the year
Popular
Published by media conglomerate or commercial publisher
Scholarly
Available from University Library, lab or office
Popular•Available from newsstand or home subscription
Scholarly
• May have multiple authors
•Articles are organized specifically, including an abstract, a literature review, discussion of methodology, and results or conclusions.
The previous descriptions apply to print versions of popular magazines. Web versions, zines, online newsletters may be different.
Most electronic journals will meet the same standards as the print; you can use the same criteria to decide if it is scholarly or not.
Still confused? There’s help!
Gale
Ebsco
ProQuest
Wilson
Or ask a Librarian
Many databases provide assistance in limiting a search to only peer-reviewed articles.
Think you’ve got it?Hold on a minute, there are also
Trade Journals and Commentary that are out there as well.
American Libraries
Police Chief
HR Focus
Tea and Coffee Trade Journal
The American Scholar
The Atlantic Monthly
New Republic
National Review
TRADE Journals
• Are published by professional or trade associations
• Have a specific and limited audience • Contain advertisements related to the
profession• Provide a forum for job advertisements• Use jargon of the industry• Contain photographs of trade/industrial setting
• Intellectual subject matter• Comment on current issues • Cultural or political subjects• May have a political leaning, left
or right• Literary, artistic, dramatic
criticism
These journals, while not reporting research, may be helpful if you seek informed opinions or ideas.
CHECK WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THIS TYPE OF SOURCE IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Commentary
Reference List“Is it scholarly? Distinguishing periodical types online”. [website].
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Accessed from: http://www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/pertype.html. Accessed on: July 13, 2010.
Gilroy, Susan. “Popular Magazines and Scholarly Journals: Characteristics and Differences”. [website]. Accessed from: http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/lamont_handouts/scholarlyjournals.html. Accessed on: July 13, 2010.
Pfeiffer, Mark. How To Distinguish Peer Reviewed/Scholarly Journals from Popular/Trade Magazines. [pamphlet] Bell Library, TAMUCC, June 2007.
Reference List (con’t)
“Popular vs. Scholarly Articles – Tutorial”. [website] University of Arizona Library. Accessed from: http://www.library.arizona.edu/help/tutorials/scholarly/. Accessed on: July 13, 2010.
“Scholarly Journals, Trade Publications, and Popular Magazines”. [pdffile]. ProQuest. Accessed from: http://training.proquest.com/trc/training/en/peervsscholarly.pdf. Accessed on: July 13, 2010.
Spink, Amanda, David Robins, and Linda Schamber. 1998. "Use of Scholarly Book Reviews: Implications for Electronic Publishing and Scholarly Communication." Journal of the American Society for Information Science 49, no. 4: 364-374. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost. Accessed on: July 13, 2010
