Scholarly Journals

Periodicals are publications issued regularly and more frequently than annually. Magazines, journals, and newspapers are examples of periodicals. They can be issued daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or at any regular interval.

Journals are used to provide articles by professionals in a certain discipline. They are considered a reputable source of information. Many professors require the use of scholarly journals for research papers, since their primary purpose is to inform and report on original research or experimentation. It is also appropriate in some classes to use magazines, so check with your professor or ask a Reference Librarian if you are not sure.

Differences between magazines and scholarly journals:

MAGAZINE:		JOURNAL:
popular (general audience)		scholarly (specialized audience)
little original research		original research
usually shorter articles		longer articles
written by journalists or writers		written by experts in the field
usually no bibliography		documented with bibliography
often includes pictures		may include charts and graphs
author may not be identified		author affiliation given
articles may not be reviewed		articles reviewed by other experts
general publishers		publishers are frequently professional societies or universities
Examples of magazines: Newsweek, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated		Examples of journals: American Historical Review, Journal of Shellfish Research

--Updated: 13 August 2008