Popular, Scholarly & Trade Publications: What is Scholarly, Trade & Popular?

Journals, print and online
("Academic" or "Peer reviewed")

Magazines and newspapers,
print and online

Publications, print and online

How to spot the differences
between these types of periodicals?

Purpose

• Report scholarly research - primary source
• Share expertise

• Inform, entertain, cover, sell - secondary source
• Currents events, hot  issues,
• Commentaries on social/political issues

• News and practical information for field or discipline

Authors

• Experts in the field - researchers, scholars, professors, academics
• Credentials and affiliations provided
• Often more than one author

• Journalists, freelance or staff writers
• Credentials and affiliations not usually provided
• Usually just one author

• Practitioners in the field, journalists with subject expertise
• Credentials and affiliations may be provided
• May be more than one author

Audience  

• Scholarly readers - professors, researchers or students, professionals in the field

• General public

• Professionals in the field, researchers, interested segments of the general public

Language 

• Specialized teminology and jargon of the field

• Non-technical language
• Easy to understand

• Technical terminology and jargon of the field

Article Structure

• More formal and structured
• May include these sections: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, bibliography

• Do not necessarily follow a specific format or structure

• Do not necessarily follow a specific format or structure

Article Length

• Generally longer articles
• Provide in-depth analysis of topics

• Generally shorter articles
• Provide broader overviews of topics

• Short to medium-length articles

Sources/Credits

• Sources cited in endnotes, footnotes, and/or bibliographies

• Rarely formally cite sources
• May mention names of reports or references - information is often second or third hand

• Often mention sources
• May formally cite them in bibliographies

Illustrations

• Limited illustrations
• Support the article content
• Tables, graphs, maps

• Many illustrations
• Support the article content, advertising
• Graphics, photos

• Some illustrations
• Support the article content, targeted advertising
• Tables, graphs, charts, photos

Advertising

• Little or no advertising.
• If present, will be for books, other journals, and academic conferences

• Significant amount of advertising
• Often for consumer products - cars, food, clothing, hobby items, etc.

• Some advertising
• Often for specific products used by people in that profession

Editors/Review

• Editors accept articles submitted by authors
• Usually reviewed by peer scholars (referees) not employed by the journal

• Editors assign or commission authors to write specific articles.
•  Editors on staff may evaluate articles

• Editors assign, commission, or accept articles
• Editors on staff may evaluate article

Frequency

• Published monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually

• Usually published weekly, monthly, or daily

• Usually published weekly or monthly

Examples

• Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia
• Modern Fiction Studies
• Journal of Educational Research
• American Historical Review
• Social Psychology Quarterly
• BioScience

• Business Week
• Time
• New York Times
• Glamour
• Sports Illustrated
• Atlantic

• Restaurant Business
• Travel Weekly
• PC Magazine
• Advertising Age
• RN
• Psychology Today