Professors often suggest that students include articles from scholarly, refereed, or peer-reviewed journals as resources for their research papers. These articles are authored by experts in their fields and reviewed by peers before getting accepted for publication. See below for a chart to help you distinguish between the three main types of periodicals.
| Popular Magazine | Scholarly Journal | Trade Journal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examples |  |
 |
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| Audience | General readership | Students, researchers, scholars, specialists in a particular subject | Members of a particular trade, profession or industry |
| Language | Popular language, geared toward the average reader | Specialized vocabulary of a subject discipline | Specialized vocabulary of a trade, profession or industry |
| Content | Feature stories, reviews, editorials, may report research findings as news | Original research, theoretical issues, new developments in the subject discipline | News, trends, technical and practical aspects of the trade, profession or industry |
| Authors | Staff writers (not always named), free lance writers | Subject specialists named, degrees and academic affiliation usually given | Staff writers and freelancers, usually professionals in the field |
| Documentation | Articles rarely include references or footnotes | Meticulously documented; extensive references and/or footnotes | Some articles may contain a few references or footnotes |
| Appearance | Highly visual, lots of advertising and photos | Sober design, little advertising, mostly text with some graphs and tables | Visual; some advertising related to the field, photos |
Adapted from "How to…Distinguish Types Of Periodicals: Popular Magazines, Scholarly Journals and Trade Journals"
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
http://www.upj.pitt.edu/internet/Estrada.config?resource=5896
