Periodicals: Scholarly vs. Popular vs. Newspapers Scholarly/ Academic Journals * Popular Periodicals/ Magazines
Newspapers/News
Purpose Inform other scholars of research findings. Authors Experts in their fields and scholars. Entertain, sell products, give practical information, promote a viewpoint, etc. Freelance writers, local staff, or journalists; often unsigned. Content Highly specialized and includes research projects, methodology and theory; long articles; looks like a book in many cases. Provide information to a broad audience; no prior subject knowledge is necessary. Usually freelance writers, journalists, newswire services, columnists or local staff, but can be scholars. News of human interest, either narrowly or broadly covered; news on daily or weekly basis, current events. Appearance Serious, plain cover on Advertising plain paper, simple black and white graphics and illustrations. Minimal or nonexistent. Language Terms specific to the field; assumes some scholarly knowledge by the reader. Sources Always cited; many references and/or footnotes. Include research organizations and universities. Publishers Pagination Examples Tends to be consecutive within one volume, which may contain several separate issues. Journal of the American Medical Association, Modern Fiction Studies Popular magazines: popular personalities, news, general interest articles; brief articles unless feature article; Trade magazines: specialized information & articles. Glossy covers, lots of color illustrations and photos, many short articles. Lots of advertising.
Simple and designed for minimal educational level; appeals to layperson or tradesperson or general public. Could be second or third hand, original source sometimes obscure; rarely cited. Commercial enterprises.
Each issue starts with page 1.
Time, People Weekly, Reader’s Digest, Sports Illustrated Newsprint; some sections can be slick and attractive; articles can be illustrated and with some color photographs. Moderate or heavy; includes unrelated products. General public, some with slant such as business. Sources rarely cited. Usually commercial enterprises or individuals, but some may come from specific professional organizations. Each issue starts with front page and subsequent sections and pages. New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Albuquerque Journal *Peer reviewed and refereed journals: Articles in peer reviewed journals are impartially evaluated by researchers or subject specialists in the academic community prior to being accepted for publication. Articles in refereed journals are evaluated by at least one subject specialist prior to acceptance for publication. Articles usually have distinct sections: introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions and steps for further research.