Skyline College
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Popular Magazines vs. Scholarly Journals

 

 

Popular Magazines

Scholarly Journals

Overall appearance

   

Glossy paper, advertisements, heavily illustrated, attractive in appearance

          

Serious, may contain graphs or charts; no glossy pages, photographs; few or no advertisements

Audience

General Public

Scholars, researchers and students

Authors

Journalists, professional writers; credentials rarely provided

Researchers, scholars, or experts in the field; the article includes their academic credentials

Documentation

Sources sometimes cited for news articles, but rarely

Cited sources in footnotes or bibliography

Purpose

Provide general information

Report on or review original research or experimentation in narrowly focused discipline or academic subject.

Article Acceptance
Procedure

Articles written by hired reporters, edited by magazine editors

Often undergo a "peer-review" process -- reviewed by other scholars in the field before being published --sometimes these journals are called "refereed journals"

Examples

Time, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Ms., Nation, Popular Science, Life, Sports Illustrated, Commentary, Architectural Digest, The Futurist, Motor Trend, Natural History, Prevention, Sierra, Sunset, Wired

New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Adolescence, American Historical Review, Art History, Counseling Psychologist, Geological Society of America Bulletin, Harvard Law Review, Management Science, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Women's Studies.

 

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How to identify scholarly books

 

  • To find research studies, look for articles in scholarly journals that include the following sections:
    • Method(s): may include "Procedure", "Participants", "Measures"
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Data (usually included in statistical tables at the end of the article)

 

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last revised: 3-30-09
by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA
These materials may be used for educational purposes. All commercial rights are reserved.
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