Journals vs. Magazines


Types of Periodicals

Periodicals are print sources that are published weekly, monthly or quarterly, such as magazines, newspapers and journals. Instructors may require a variety of sources or limit sources to scholarly journals.

Scholarly journals

Scholarly publications contain articles written by professionals in the field. The articles may be original research or an extension of previous research, illustrated with graphs, tables and have a list of references at the end. Articles submitted to a scholarly journal are peer reviewed or juried, meaning other experts read and suggest revisions to the author before the final version is accepted for publication.

Popular magazines

Popular magazines are not in-depth enough to be scholarly. The magazine may have a an area of interest - Parenting is devoted to raising children and Time is a news magazine, but the articles are intended as overviews. Authors may or may not be named, there may be illustrations or charts, but there won't be a bibliography at the end.

Newspapers

Newspapers can be published daily, weekly or monthly. Editorials focus on commentary or opinion while the news articles are supposed to be factual information. Newspapers may have a viewpoint that echoes their publisher or the audience they serve which you may discover by "reading between the lines".

Periodical Comparison Chart

	Newspapers	Magazines	Types of Journals
			Opinion	Scholarly	Trade
Examples	Plain Dealer, Wall Street Journal	Newsweek, Psychology Today, Billboard	The New Republic, The Animal's Agenda	Crystal Engineering, New England Journal of Medicine	Journal of the American Library Association, Publisher's Weekly
Audience/ Content	General readership - news, opinions, text of speeches, local interest	Overviews, non-technical language, advertisments	Journal has specific agenda written to appeal to like-minded readers	Professional readership - research, analysis, technical vocabulary	Journal of association or trade organization meant for people in that field
Authorship	By-line for important staff writers, often no author named, no credentials given	By-line for important staff writers, often no author named, no credentials given	Featured writers have by-line, staff writers often not named, no credentials given	All contributing authors named with their degrees and sponsoring institution	Varies - some name authors and their credentials, others not
Bibliog./ Credits	Articles often do not refer to sources	No bibliography, articles may refer to other sources	No bibliography, articles may refer to other sources	Extensive bibliography, footnotes in text, article often begins with literature review	Varies from journal to journal
Editors/ Peer Review	Standards set by newspaper editors and owners	Staff editors, no peer or expert review	Staff editors, no peer or expert review	Articles "peer reviewed" for accuracy by other experts	Staff editors, no peer or expert review
Length	Brief overview articles or follow-up columns	Short overview articles meant as starting point for readers	Short articles supporting journal's agenda	Comprehensive papers outlining original research or new synthesis of previous research	Shorter overview articles applying to specific topics in trade
Special Features	Photographs, some charts, maps etc.	Advertisements, photographs, illustrations, maps etc.	Advertisements, photographs, illustrations, maps etc.	Tables, graphs, charts, maps, illustrations to support text	Advertisements, photographs, illustrations
Structure	No consistent format for articles	No specific structure unless written by featured writer	No specific structure unless written by featured writer	Structured, beginning with abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, bibliography	No specific structure unless written by featured writer