Scholarly

Journals

Trade

Publications

Popular

Magazines

Appearance

Plain cover and paper.

Primarily print, with few pictures.

Tables, graphs, and diagrams are often included.

If there are ads, they are for books or conferences.

Cover often depicts industrial setting.

Pictures and illustrations in color.

Colorful ads for trade-related products.

Eye-catching cover and glossy paper.

Pictures and illustrations in color.

Colorful ads for commercial products.

Audience

Scholars, researchers, practitioners.

Members of a specific business, industry or organization.

General public.

Content/Topic

Research projects, methodology, literary criticism, and theory.

Industry trends, new products or techniques, and organizational news.

News, personalities, and general interest stories.

Advertisements

None or few.

Many, but specific to interest of trade publication.

Many ads for a variety of consumer goods.  Up to ¾ of publication can be ads.

Authors

Experts in field (i.e., researchers, faculty members).

Credentials are given.

Experts, practitioners in the field.

Authors usually named.

Magazine staff members, journalists, freelance writers.

Articles may be unsigned.

Publishers

University or academic press, or commercial publishers who specialize in scholarly works.

Association or trade group.

Commercial publisher who may publish a variety of titles.

Peer Reviewed *

(or Editorial Board)

Yes.

No, but corrections and rebuttals may be printed in “letters to the editor.”

No, but corrections and rebuttals may be printed in “letters to the editor.”

Writing Style and Language

Uses terminology, jargon and language of the specific discipline covered.

Assumes reader has some knowledge of the subject area.

Uses terminology and language of trade or industry covered.

Uses easy to read, simple language.

Aimed at the layperson.

References or Bibliography

Articles contain bibliography, references, notes and/or list of works cited.

Articles may have short bibliographies.

Articles rarely include references.

Indexed in:

Journals are indexed in specialized, discipline- specific indexes or databases like                   ERIC (for education) or Agricola (for agriculture).

Trade publications are indexed in discipline- specific databases such as Business Source Elite, ERIC, or Medline

Popular articles are listed in general indexes, such as Reader’s Guide, Academic Search Elite, and Omnifile Full Text Mega.

Examples:

Journal of Food Science

Equine Vet. Journal

Journal of Hort. Science

Computer Journal

Food and Nutrition Bulletin

Equine Athlete

Grower Talks

Computerworld

Gourmet Magazine

The Trail Rider

Northern Gardener

Computer Gaming World