Identifying Scholarly/Professional Journals and General Magazines

It can be difficult to tell the difference between a scholarly or professional journal article and a general magazine article! This guide is planned to help you when you are asked to locate a specific type of article for an assignment.

Note that most of the following criteria are appropriate both for print magazines/journals and for electronic magazine/journal articles available through such databases such as Expanded Academic ASAP, Lexis/Nexis Academic, Newsbank, and other electronic resources on the University Libraries and Archives Web site.   To access these resources, click here.

Popular Magazines

• In print, often feature a glossy, color cover designed to catch attention
• Intended for a general audience who are not experts in the field
• Published weekly, biweekly, monthly
• In print or in PDF form, may feature prominent advertisements and many illustrations
• Articles are written by journalists or generalists assigned to a range of topics
• Articles may be signed or unsigned with no bibliography or list of references at the end
• Articles may be written as "story" or narrative format
• Articles are reviewed by an editor, but NOT by other experts in that discipline

Scholarly/Professional Journals

• In print or in PDF form, will often feature a cover listing title of journal, names of contributors, and/or titles of articles
• Intended for a scholarly or professional audience who are experts in the field
• Published quarterly, annually, or monthly
• In print or PDF, may feature occasional ads (usually publishers) and limited illustrations, usually photographs, charts, or tables
• Articles are written by individuals specializing in the field or discipline -- credentials may be listed at beginning or end of article
• Signed articles with bibliography or list of references at the end
• Articles usually have specific structure such as an abstract, headings, and summary of findings
• Articles are usually peer-reviewed or juried -- reviewed by panel of experts before accepted for publication

Do NOT be misled by the title of a magazine or a journal! For example, Ladies Home Journal is in fact a magazine for a general audience.

Need Help?

Ask a Librarian!  You can click on the “Ask a Librarian” link at http://library.emporia.edu and use any of the following options:

• Ask in person at the Reference/Information Desk on the 2nd floor of White Library
• Call the Reference/Information Desk at 620-341-5207 (local) or 1-877-613-7323 (toll-free)
• E-mail us at libref01@emporia.edu
• Instant message us!  You can use AOL Messenger, Windows Live (MSN) Messenger, or Yahoo! Messenger.  Just add wawhitelib to AOL Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger, or wawhitelib@passport.com to Windows Live Messenger.  Hours for instant message reference are currently 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

Last Updated May 20, 2008