Scholarly/Research Journals

Trade/Professional Journals

Popular Magazines

Uses

Articles on original research

In-depth analysis

Longer articles

Longer book reviews of scholarly books

Attached bibliographies for additional sources

Trends in an industry, trade, or profession

Company information

New products, techniques in a field

Statistics, charts

News, current events

General interest

Shorter articles

Popular culture

Short book reviews of popular books

Audience

Researchers, scholars, students with some background in the field

Members of a specific industry, profession, or association

General public

Language

Specialized vocabulary of the subject

Technical or jargon of the industry or profession

Everyday language

Non-technical

Authors

Experts, researchers in a field

Scholars or academics

Professionals

Subject-specialist staff writers

Journalists, reporters

Staff writers

Guest writers

Content approval

Articles reviewed by scholars or experts (peer-reviewed/refereed)

Articles reviewed by editors on staff

Articles reviewed by editors on staff

Publishers

University, scholarly presses

Research organizations

Some professional associations

Industry/trade groups

Professional associations

Commercial publishers

Sources of Information

Sources fully credited

Bibliographies, references

Sources credited, not fully

Sources rarely credited

Graphics/appearance

Mostly black and white with tables, graphs, charts

Plain, serious look

Few ads

Color illustrations

Glossy paper

Ads targeted to the trade or profession

Color illustrations

Glossy paper

Many color ads

Frequency

Usually monthly, quarterly

Usually weekly, biweekly, monthly

Usually weekly, monthly

Examples

Journal of Business Ethics

Shakespeare Quarterly

Behavioral Neuroscience

New England Journal of Medicine

Philosophy East & West

CPA Journal

Mathematics Teacher

Library Journal

HR Magazine

Athletic Management

Newsweek

U.S. News & World Report

Sports Illustrated

People Magazine

Gourmet Magazine