This guide will help you understand the difference between popular and scholarly sources that are published on an ongoing basis. These include journals, magazines, newspapers, serials, and periodicals.
Popular Magazines & Newspapers
Trade and Professional Publications
Publication Types: A Comparative Chart
Popular magazines and newspapers are written by journalists who are employed by the publication for which they write. They cover news and current events, profiles of people or places, and/or political opinions.
Examples:
Scholarly (or academic) journals contain articles written by researchers who are experts in their field. Authors are usually employed by colleges, universities, or other institutions of education or research. Articles are submitted to the editors of the journals who decide whether or not to publish. The most prestigious journals use the peer review process. In this process, an article is reviewed by experts in the field (peers) who suggest changes and recommend whether the article should be published.
Examples:
Trade and professional publications contain articles written by people working in a specific discipline, industry, or field of work. Articles focus on news in the field, brief reports on research, and opinions about trends and events.
Examples:
Modified from Popular Literature vs. Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Literature, Rutgers University Libraries (no longer available from Rutgers).
|
|
POPULAR / CONSUMER |
SCHOLARLY |
TRADE / PROFESSIONAL |
|
Purpose |
To inform and entertain the general reader |
To communicate research and scholarly ideas |
To inform readers about a given profession |
|
Audience |
General public |
Other scholars, students |
Practitioners in the field, professionals |
|
Coverage |
Broad variety of public interest topics, multiple subjects |
Very narrow and specific subjects |
Information relevant to a profession |
|
Publishers |
Commercial publishers |
Professional associations, academic institutions, and commercial publishers |
Professional associations or trade groups |
|
Authors |
Employees of the publication, freelancers (including journalists and scholars) |
Scholars/academics, researchers, experts (usually listed with their institutional affiliation) |
Members of the profession, journalists, researchers, scholars |
|
Characteristics |
|
|
|
|
Frequency |
Frequent, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis |
Less frequent, on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis |
Frequent, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis |
|
Examples |
National Geographic, Psychology Today, Rolling Stone, Science News, Anchorage Daily News, Sports Illustrated |
Journal of American History, Psychological Review, Nature, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Higher Education, American Journal of Sports Medicine |
American Libraries, Advertising Age, Professional Pilot, Public Manager, Mayo Clinic Health Letter, Chronicle of Higher Education |
Modified from Popular Literature vs. Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Literature, Rutgers University Libraries (no longer available from Rutgers).
You can check the following resources to determine whether a title is scholarly, popular/consumer, or trade/professional.
Not everything published in a peer-reviewed journal is peer reviewed. Book reviews, editorial (opinion) pieces, short news items, etc., are not considered scholarly articles. If you are unsure about using the information you've found, be sure to ask a librarian or check with your professor.
This guide is maintained by Ruth D. Terry.
Library Account
Off-Campus Access
Ask Us
