Types of Periodicals
Periodicals, journals, magazines fall into 'categories' determined by their overall purpose.
Popular: Written for general public; authors and editors usually not experts in subject field; purpose is to provide current, societal/cultural news and discussion.
Trade: Written for individuals in a specific career/job or with a specific interest/hobby. Authors are generally persons working in the field/hobby or journalists with specialized knowledge. Articles discuss current issues but are not reports of research.
Scholarly: Written for, and authored by, researchers, educators, students. Articles are reports of original research or other scholarly discussions.
Popular vs. Scholarly Journals and Websites
|
|
Popular |
Scholarly |
|
AUDIENCE |
General readers. |
Professors, researchers, scholars, students. |
|
APPEARANCE |
Colorful, eye-catching, lively, slick. |
Attractive, but also serious. |
|
ADVERTISEMENTS |
Many; banner ads that change on a regular basis. |
Few, if any. |
|
PRODUCER |
Commercial and non-profit organizations; personal home pages. |
Educational institutions, faculty pages, professional associations, some commercial and non-profit organizations. |
|
AUTHOR |
Staff writers, journalists, usually not experts in the field. |
Experts in the field, professionals, credentials provided. |
|
CONTENT & FOCUS |
News oriented, entertaining,non-technical, opinions. |
Original research, subject specific. |
|
LANGUAGE, STYLE |
Easy to read, engaging. |
Formal language, prior knowledge of subject matter required. |
|
LENGTH |
Usually short to medium in length, providing broad overview. |
Usually quite lengthy in order to provide in-depth analysis on topic. |
|
ILLUSTRATIONS |
Heavily illustrated, eye-catching. |
Few illustrations. Include appropriate research-oriented tables, charts, and graphs. |
|
DOCUMENTATION |
Very few, if any |
Bibliographies, footnotes |
|
TIMELINESS |
Up-to-date |
Timeliness is not as important |
|
WORDS IN TITLE |
No specific words included or excluded, may be cutesy or contain slang |
Language of the discipline is usually used; “study” or “research” will often be included in the title. |