Differences Between Scholarly and Popular Journals
|
|
Scholarly,
Academic, Research Journals
|
Popular
Magazines
|
Newspapers
|
Professional
and Industry
|
|
Sample
Titles
|
Journal
of Communication Inquiry, The Library Quarterly, Hypatia,
Biological Bulletin, Clinical Nursing Research,
Harvard Business Review
|
Newsweek,
Entertainment Weekly, National Geographic, The
Nation, Time
|
The
Sun-Sentinel, The New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, The Guardian, The Washington Post
|
The
Horn Book Magazine, The CPA Journal, American
Libraries
|
|
Content
|
Lengthy
articles; incorporate methodology, analysis, research, history,
theory. Specialized topics. Academic book reviews. Ads academic-related.
|
Usually
brief articles; current events, news; quick facts; short interviews,
brief book reviews; lots of ads.
|
Current
events, news articles, classified and commercial ads, opinions/editorials.
|
Articles
usually brief in length; news, events pertaining to the specific
profession.
|
|
Authors
|
Professors,
scholars, researchers, physicians, nurses, educators.
|
Journalists,
freelance writers, staff writers
|
Journalists,
staff writers, freelance writers.
|
Journalists,
freelance writers, staff writers, people within the profession and
industry.
|
|
Audience
|
Aimed
at other professors, scholars, researchers, professionals in the
field.
|
General
audience.
|
General
public.
|
Professionals
in the field, sometimes the general audience.
|
|
Language
& Vocabulary Used
|
Specialized/technical
language specific to discipline. Academic-level writing.
|
Jargon,
not usually technically advanced. Simple language.
|
Simple
language; usually not technical or advanced.
|
Could
include some technical language specific to the field.
|
|
Cited
Sources
|
Footnotes,
bibliographies, parenthetical citations, or references always used.
|
Rarely
appear, but if they do, they are not full citations.
|
Rarely
appear, but if they do, they are not full citations. No footnotes.
|
Rarely
appear.
|
|
Illustrations
/ Graphics
|
Graphs,
charts, images used sparingly or to support the research presented.
|
Usually
includes many photos or images; glossy covers, pages
|
Makes
use of photos, illustrations, charts, graphs.
|
Could
include black & white or color images, graphs, charts, glossy
pages.
|
|
Editorial
Process
|
Peer-reviewed,
refereed.
|
No
blind or peer-reviews; overseen by editors.
|
No
blind or peer-reviews; decisions overseen by editors and publishers.
|
No
blind reviews, not refereed. Overseen by magazine's editors and
publishers.
|
|
Publishing
Information
|
Publishers:
academic presses, scholarly organizations, corporate presses specializing
in academic publishing, (e.g. SAGE Publications)
|
Publishers:
Usually corporations or other commercially-owned companies (e.g.
Time owned by AOL Time Warner.)
|
Publishers:
corporate newspaper publishers such as Gannett and Tribune.
|
Publishers:
professional or trade organizations, or by commercially-owned companies.
|
|
Frequency
|
Quarterly, biannually, annually; monthly.
|
Weekly,
biweekly, or monthly.
|
Daily
or weekly.
|
Varies.
Monthly or bimonthly.
|
Table 1
Concept and design of chart adapted from: Gradowski, G., Snavely, L. & Dempsey P. (Eds.) Designs for active learning: A sourcebook of classroom strategies for information education. Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, 1998, and http://www.lrc.macewan.ca.research/guides/periodical_types.html.
Introduction
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