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Periodical is a term used to describe any publication that is published multiple times (periodically). Periodicals include materials such as popular magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers.
It is important to understand the difference between a popular and a scholarly periodical. When you are doing research, most of your sources should be scholarly.
Often popular periodicals are called magazines and scholarly periodicals are called journals. Many times it will be acceptable to use some popular material, but research papers should not be based solely on popular literature.
| Criteria | Popular Magazine | Trade Journal | Scholarly Journal |
| Example |
|
Nursing Times |
|
| Content |
|
|
In-depth, primary account of original findings written by the researcher(s); very specific information, with the goal of scholarly communication. |
| Author |
|
Author is usually a professional in the field, sometimes a journalist with subject expertise. |
Author's credentials are provided; usually a scholar or specialist with subject expertise. |
| Audience | General public; the interested non-specialist. |
Professionals in the field; the interested non-specialist. |
Scholars, researchers, and students. |
| Language | Vocabulary in general usage; easily understandable to most readers. | Specialized terminology or jargon of the field, but not as technical as a scholarly journal. |
Specialized terminology or jargon of the field; requires expertise in subject area. |
| Graphics | Graphs, charts and tables; lots of glossy advertisements and photographs. |
Photographs; some graphics and charts; advertisements targeted to professionals in the field. |
Graphs, charts, and tables; very few advertisements and photographs. |
| Layout & Organization | Informal; may include non-standard formatting. May not present supporting evidence or a conclusion. |
Informal; articles organized like a journal or a newsletter. Evidence drawn from personal experience or common knowledge. |
Structured; includes the article abstract, goals and objectives, methodology, results (evidence), discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. |
| Accountability | Articles are evaluated by editorial staff, not experts in the field; edited for format and style. |
Articles are evaluated by editorial staff who may be experts in the field, not peer-reviewed*; edited for format and style. |
Articles are evaluated by peer-reviewers* or referees who are experts in the field; edited for content, format, and style. |
| References | Rare. Little, if any, information about source materials is given. |
Occasional brief bibliographies, but not required. |
Required. Quotes and facts are verifiable. |
| Paging | Each issue begins with page 1. | Each issue generally begins with page 1. | Page numbers are generally consecutive throughout the volume, so your volume may begin on page 312 or 3012. |
Used with permission from Lili Kang, GateWay Community College. Based on Scholarly vs. Popular Materials by Amy VanScoy, NCSU Library and Scholarly, Popular and Trade Journals by Jason Puckett & Lyn Thaxton at GSU.
This short video (1:47) from the Felix G. Woodward Library at Austin Peay State University explains the difference between these types of sources.
This short video (2:48) from the Georgia State University Library shows how to tell the difference between a scholarly article and a popular one when looking in the library's subscription databases (like EBSCOhost).
This short video (1:46) from the Olin Library at Cornell University explains how to identify a scholarly article.
