Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazines
A GUIDE TO THE DIFFERENCES

Scholarly journals are often referred to as peer reviewed or refereed journals. They contain articles that have undergone a review process by selected experts in the field before being accepted for publication. They have a serious format and usually have charts and graphs to illustrate concepts. All of the sources are cited with footnotes and/or a bibliography. Scholars or researchers in a specific discipline or field write the articles. The material uses the terminology and language of the discipline and the reader is expected to have a similar background. The purpose of these journals is to report or make research available to the scholarly world. Many of these journals are published by a professional organization. Use scholarly journals if you need verifiable and highly credible information. Scholarly journals often feature primary research with detailed analysis.

General interest or popular magazines do not undergo peer review. They usually have an attractive format with photos and illustrations. They are frequently written for a general audience by a staff or scholarly writer. The language is simple and easy to understand. The purpose of these publications is to provide general information, entertain, and sometimes to sell products. They are published by commercial enterprises for profit. Use popular interest journals if you only require general information about a topic. Do not expect to find substantial detail or in-depth analysis.

Examples of Different Types of Journals:

Peer Reviewed or Refereed Journals:
American Journal of Sociology
New England Journal of Medicine
Harvard Business Review
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Journal of Counseling Psychology
Literary Review
The Reading Teacher

General or Popular Magazines:
Newsweek
Prevention Magazine
Fortune
Science Today
Psychology Newsletter
Atlantic Monthly
Phi Delta Kappan

A good source for finding refereed journal titles is Ulrich's International Periodicals Index. Ulrich's covers 165,000 serials worldwide. If a publisher reports that a title is refereed, Ulrich's records this information in the entry for that title. There is a complete listing of refereed journals in Vol. 5 of Ulrich's. The library copy is in the Reference Area, just behind the reference desk.

General OneFile is an example of an electronic database which allows limiting searches to scholarly journal articles.

When beginning research in the Basic and Advanced Search modes, select the tab entitled Academic Journals from the "Results for..." screen. Further restriction is allowed by locating the limit to options on the tab and checking the peer-reviewed box.

When conducting research using the Subject Guide Search, on the search screen under the Limit results options check the [to] peer-reviewed publications box after entering your search term(s).