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Scholarly vs. Popular
The following guidelines are meant to assist students in determining whether a journal is scholarly or popular. These are guidelines only, not absolute criteria. When in doubt regarding the quality of a resource in any format (print or electronic), consult a reference librarian and/or your professor.
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Scholarly Journals |
Popular Magazines (sometimes called General or Journalistic Sources) |
| Articles always have bibliographies and end/footnotes. | Articles lack bibliographies or references. |
| Authors are always named, and their institutional affiliation is given. | Authors may be anonymous. |
| Articles may be peer-reviewed or refereed. | Articles are not peer-reviewed. |
| Target audience is academic or professional. | Target audience is the general public. |
| Journal title may include terms such as "journal," "review," or "bulletin" - but not always! | Magazine title doesn't usually include terms like "journal," "review," or "bulletin." Notable exceptions include The Wall Street Journal and Ladies' Home Journal--these are NOT scholarly. |
| Journal covers and pages tend to be plain in design. Some scholarly or professional journals contain advertisements (like JAMA), so identify the target audience to make your final determination. | Magazines tend to include advertisements, graphics, color photos, etc. |
| Issues tend to be successively numbered, with the page numbering of each issue beginning where the previous issue ended. | Each issue generally begins with page 1. |
| Articles tend to be longer. | Articles tend to be shorter, some only 1-2 pages. |
| Issues tend to be published less often (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually). | Issues tend to be published more frequently (monthly, weekly, daily). |