| Scholarly Journal | Popular Magazines | Trade Publications | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Written by an expert in the field covered. Author is always included. Usually includes authors affiliation | Written by magazine staff and/or journalist, sometimes author is not named | Business or industry professional. Sometimes author is not named. Author's affiliation is often noted |
| References | Includes citations, references and/or bibliography | Few or no notes, citations, or bibliographic references | Few or no notes, citations, or bibliographic references |
| Content | Contains data, charts, and/or graphs, abstract and/or summaries. Usually focused on research and news from the field | Introduction or teaser header to the article. Focused on current events and/or general interest topics | General abstract or summary provided. May contain data, charts or graphs. Focuses on business or industry information (trends, products, techniques). |
| Style | Writing is well researched, advanced reading level, many technical terms used specific to the field | Writing is less formal, highly readable, written for the general public | Written for people in the business or industry using technical vocabulary specific to the field |
| Review | Peer-reviewed | Edited and revised by staff | Reviewed by Journal editors |
| Appearance | Several pages long, published by a professional organization | Often contain photographs and/or illustrations | Often contains photographs and/or illustrations, several pages long |
| Ads | Few to none | Numerous | Some, often in color, but specific to the field |
| Examples |
Black Scholar Folklore |
Rolling Stone Time |
Psychology Today Chronical of Higher Education |
To find scholarly or peer-reviewed articles in the AU Library, many of our databases allow you to limit your results by:
OR
if you have any article and are not just if it is a peer-reviewed journal you can check by:
However please remember that not all articles within a peer-reviewed journal will be acceptable as scholarly articles. Some articles (news, letters to the editor, reviews) are included without completing the peer-review process. Make sure to also check for other characteristics (like those listed previously) to determine if this is the right source for you to include.
General criteria are available to help determine if periodicals and journals are scholarly, often called peer-reviewed journals, practitioner / professional journals, or popular magazines.
Consider such things as:
Authority - Who wrote the article? What qualifications or credentials do they have regarding subject?
Content - What style of writing is used? Is it objective or trying to sell you something? Is it fact or opinion?
Audience - Who is the intended reader? What reading level is the article (advanced, general)?
Citation - Is the article properly cited? Does it have a bibliography or footnotes?
Review Process - Has the article been reviewed by subject specialists?
Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
Cornell University Library
NCSU Libraries- scroll over an interactive display to see different parts of an article
Colorado State University Libraries
Colorado State University Libraries
Berkeley Library, University of CA
Cornell University Library