Comparing Journals and Magazines

Many indexes (especially those which are online) contain references to both scholarly journals and popular magazines. Telling the difference between the two can be very confusing, as there is no clear-cut definition of what is a scholarly journal.

A scholarly journal will exhibit the majority of the features listed in the comparison table below. If you are in doubt about any specific publication, please consult your instructor or ask a reference librarian for assistance.

FEATURE	MAGAZINE	SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
AUDIENCE	general public	scholars or researchers in a specified field
STYLE	journalistic; written for the average reader	written for researchers in a specified field
CONTENT	current events; articles of general interest	specialized articles; research topics limited to specific subject areas
AUTHORSHIP	journalist; layperson; often author name is not given	expert or researcher in field; author is identified and credentials often noted
DOCUMENTATION	few or no references or notes	includes notes; cites reference; lists bibliographies
REVIEW PROCESS	edited/reviewed in-house only	refereed or peer reviewed by outside scholars in the field covered
APPEARANCE	glossy paper; many pictures (black/white and color)	mostly print; few pictures; no glossy paper
ADVERTISEMENTS	many, often in color	few if any
PUBLISHER	commercial publishers	usually professional associations or academic bodies
FREQUENCY	weekly, monthly, bi-monthly	bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually
INDEXING	general periodical indexes (Reader's Guide, etc.)	subject specific indexes (Humanities Index, Social Sciences Index, etc.)