Christopher Center Library Services: About Library Services and Resources: Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Journals

Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Journals

What is a peer-reviewed journal and why does it matter to me?

Do you know what it means when a professor's assignment requires that you use a scholarly or professional journal for your information sources? In short, a scholarly journal provides articles of primary research in a specific field or discipline. This guide lists some comparative criteria that will help you determine if the journal you are using meets your assignment's requirements. This comparison isn't about the accuracy of the popular magazines' information; it has to do with the level of scholarly information that is made available.

Most, if not all, of these criteria can be determined by looking at the journal's "Instructions to Authors" pages, the publication information, and the articles themselves (especially useful if the journal itself isn't available).

Element
     Scholarly journal/periodical article Popular magazine article

Purpose To share with other scholars the results of primary research & experiments. To entertain or inform in a broad, general sense.

Author   A respected scholar or researcher in the field; an expert in the topic; names are always noted. A journalist or feature writer; names not always noted.

Publisher   A professional association; a university or known scholarly publisher. A commercial publisher.

Publication Acceptance   Experts (peers) in the field (or an outside editorial board) review each article submission before publication acceptance; author names are hidden from the reviewer in "blind reviews." Writers are often employed by the magazine or publisher; acceptance is based largely on the topic's consumer appeal.

Intended Audience Other scholars or researchers in the field, or those interested in the topic at a research level. General public.

Content Formal presentation of scholarly work in a standard style; often an abstract at the beginning of the article. Articles also have specific section headings, such as literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and discussion/further study. Often presented in story format, with anecdotes from other people.

Style   Language is very formal and technical; usually contains discipline-specific jargon. Language is casual (high school reading level or lower). Few, if any, technical terms are used (and if they are, they are usually defined).

Appearance    Very basic layout, usually simple black text on white paper; tables or charts to illustrate research components; few, if any, pictures; any advertising is minimal and subject-related, aimed at the academic or research community. Often printed on glossy paper with colored text or headlines; usually accompanying photographs and graphics; many advertisements for a wide variety of general consumer products.

References Standard elements; references are always cited and expected; can be called "works cited" or "bibliographies;" text often contains footnotes. Very uncommon; text may contain vague referrals to "a study published at..." or "researchers have found that..." with no other details about that information.

Examples    JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association; Journal of Educational Psychology; Harvard Theological Review Newsweek; Rolling Stone; Field & Stream

Magazines for Libraries (Ref. PN 4832 .M353) provides in-depth information about 6000+ periodicals. Ask a librarian if you need more help.

Additional online information about scholarly journals can be found at Cornell University and New Mexico State University libraries' webpages.

Further information about library terminology can be found on Christopher Center's Library Jargon webpage.

Element	Scholarly journal/periodical article	Popular magazine article
Purpose	To share with other scholars the results of primary research & experiments.	To entertain or inform in a broad, general sense.
Author	A respected scholar or researcher in the field; an expert in the topic; names are always noted.	A journalist or feature writer; names not always noted.
Publisher	A professional association; a university or known scholarly publisher.	A commercial publisher.
Publication Acceptance	Experts (peers) in the field (or an outside editorial board) review each article submission before publication acceptance; author names are hidden from the reviewer in "blind reviews."	Writers are often employed by the magazine or publisher; acceptance is based largely on the topic's consumer appeal.
Intended Audience	Other scholars or researchers in the field, or those interested in the topic at a research level.	General public.
Content	Formal presentation of scholarly work in a standard style; often an abstract at the beginning of the article. Articles also have specific section headings, such as literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, and discussion/further study.	Often presented in story format, with anecdotes from other people.
Style	Language is very formal and technical; usually contains discipline-specific jargon.	Language is casual (high school reading level or lower). Few, if any, technical terms are used (and if they are, they are usually defined).
Appearance	Very basic layout, usually simple black text on white paper; tables or charts to illustrate research components; few, if any, pictures; any advertising is minimal and subject-related, aimed at the academic or research community.	Often printed on glossy paper with colored text or headlines; usually accompanying photographs and graphics; many advertisements for a wide variety of general consumer products.
References	Standard elements; references are always cited and expected; can be called "works cited" or "bibliographies;" text often contains footnotes.	Very uncommon; text may contain vague referrals to "a study published at..." or "researchers have found that..." with no other details about that information.
Examples	JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association; Journal of Educational Psychology; Harvard Theological Review	Newsweek; Rolling Stone; Field & Stream