Scholarly Journals

Popular Magazine

What if it’s the electronic version?

Overall appearance

Sober and serious. Few illustrations. Many charts, graphs and equations.

Flashy and glossy. Many illustrations. Fewer charts and graphs. No equations.

You won’t see the cover and may not see images and/or charts.

Advertising

Few, if any, ads. Most ads will be for books, other journals, and academic conferences.

Many slick ads for consumer products.

Ads typically won’t be available.

Audience

Other scholars and students. Uses scholarly terminology and jargon.

General public. Language is accessible to most readers.

Apparent in e-version.

Authors

Experts in the field. Authors’ affiliations, and contact information are listed

Reporters and freelance writers. Names and affiliations may not be listed.

If available, affiliations are typically listed in the e-version.

Article length

Generally longer.

Generally shorter.

Apparent in e-version.

Article structure

Often very structured with abstracts, methodology and conclusions.

Comparatively unstructured.

Apparent in e-version.

References

Includes extensive footnotes and/or bibliography.

Rarely includes footnotes or bibliography.

Apparent in e-version.

Article acceptance and editing

Uses a “peer review” or “referee” process, in which articles are reviewed by other experts in the field. (Check for an “Instructions for Authors” section.)

Articles are reviewed by editors before publication.

Some databases allow you to limit your search to “peer reviewed” or “refereed” journals.