|
This table describes the differences between scholarly journals, technical/trade journals, substantial news/general interest magazines, and popular magazines based on the set of criteria in the left column. |
||||
CRITERIA |
SCHOLARLY JOURNALS |
TECHNICAL / TRADE |
SUBSTANTIAL NEWS / GENERAL INTEREST |
POPULAR |
|
Audience & Purpose
|
Audience: Specific professional audience of other scholars in the discipline or profession. Purpose: Reports or makes available original research or experimentation to the rest of the scholarly world.
|
Audience: Specific professional audience of people in a particular discipline or profession. Purpose: Helps someone do their job better by reporting on new techniques (but does not report original research). Includes job listings and other news of interest to people in that profession.
|
Audience: Educated audience with interest in the topics (not aimed at a professional group) Purpose: Provides substantial information to an interested audience. |
Audience: General audience. Purpose: Primarily entertains or persuades. Hidden agenda may include selling products or services. |
|
Format |
Generally have grave, serious formats
|
Are attractive in appearance |
Attractive in appearance |
Generally slick & glossy with an attractive format |
|
Graphics |
Contain graphs and charts to illustrate the articles but usually quite plain in appearance with minimal use of color.
|
Include photographs, illustrations and graphics to enhance the publication |
Include photographs, illustrations and graphics to enhance the publication |
Contain photographs, illustrations and drawings to enhance their image
|
|
Sources |
Cite sources with footnotes and/or bibliography
|
Articles may not be footnoted or may have few footnotes |
Occasionally cite sources, but this is exception to rule |
Rarely cite sources; Original sources can be obscure |
|
Authors |
Written by scholars or researchers in the specialty
|
Written by people working in a particular profession
|
Written either by the magazine’s staff, a scholar, or free-lance writers. |
Written by the publication’s staff or free-lance writers for a broad based audience |
|
Language
|
Use terminology, jargon and the language of the discipline covered. The reader is assumed to have a similar scholarly background.
|
Use terminology and jargon of the field but are usually less formal in tone. |
Use language appropriate for an educated readership. They do not necessarily emphasize a specialty but do assume a certain level of intelligence. |
Use simple language in order to meet a minimum education level. Articles are kept short, with little depth. |
|
Publishers |
Generally published by a professional organization or society
|
Published by professional association |
Published by commercial enterprises for profit |
Published for profit |
|
Advertising
|
No advertising or very minimal, selective advertising |
Advertisements are aimed at people in that profession -- including products and services of interest to them.
|
Carry general advertising |
Carry extensive general advertising |
|
Examples
|
New England Journal of Medicine Journal of the Am. Chemical Society Harvard Business Review |
American Biology Teacher Chemical & Engineering News |
Scientific American Psychology Today Newsweek |
Esquire Reader's Digest |
|
ENGL201 Scholarly table. Karl E. Mundt Library/ Dakota State University. Based on document developed by Purdue University. Undergraduate Library
Scholarly peer review is a process to assure the quality of articles in a particular discipline or field of study. Work, activities, decision-making, and problem-solving need to be based on high quality evidence.
In scholarly peer-review, articles are evaluated by other scholars/specialists who are experts in the specialty/topic of the article.
Journals that use a peer-review process to select which articles they publish are called "peer-reviewed journals" or "refereed journals."
Using peer-reviewed scholarly journals helps you base your work and decisions on credible evidence.
How can I find out if an article is peer-reviewed?
FIRST. Determine if the article is scholarly. Only scholarly articles are likely to be peer-reviewed, so you can automatically eliminate non-scholarly articles from consideration.
SECOND. Although most articles that publish original research and that are found using professional research databases are likely to be peer-reviewed, here are two ways to determine if a journal is peer-reviewed:
Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, Madison, South Dakota 57042
605-256-5203