Description

This research guide talks about the differences in scholarly and popular journals. It also provides links to the HACC Library catalog, licensed databases, and web resources.

"What's wrong with using Good Housekeeping for my paper?"

The following excerpt from Quaratiello's The College Student's Research Companion will help you understand the differences between scholarly and popular articles:

The terms "journal" and "magazine" are often used synonymously. When your professors instruct you to find journal articles, however, they usually don't have People, Time, or Cosmopolitan in mind. Professors generally want their students to use scholarly journals in their research; these are periodicals containing articles written by experts in particular fields of study, frequently individuals affiliated with academic institutions. Scholarly journals tend to be very specialized in their subject focus and are research oriented, containing examples of primary literature sources. Primary sources are those in which scholars who have conducted research report their findings (as opposed to secondary sources which report on someone else's activities). Another characteristic of academic journal articles is that they are often "peer reviewed." This means that before an article is accepted for publication, it must be deemed worthy by a group of the author's colleagues. Academic journal articles usually have bibliographies at the end citing all the sources referred to in the text; this can be very helpful, leading you to a variety of sources that may aid in your research. There is another type of journal that is useful to those doing business research — the trade journal. Trade journals are periodicals written for people working in a specific industry.

The term "magazine," on the other hand, brings to mind general-interest publications that you would find on any newsstand. Magazines are intended for a general audience and don't go into as much technical depth as scholarly journals. They may be easier and more enjoyable to read, but they are usually not as valuable for your own research. If you picked up a copy of People, you might see articles such as "The 50 Most Beautiful People in America" and "Richard Gere: Sexiest Man Alive." Were you to look at the table of contents of an issue of the Journal of Popular Culture, however, you'd see articles like "Law as Soap Opera and Game Show: The Case of The People's Court" "Yes, Virginia, There is a Gender Difference: Analyzing Children's Requests to Santa Claus," and "Frankenstein as Founding Myth in Gary Larson's The Far Side." The difference in content is obvious. The physical difference is also apparent. Magazines tend to be glossy publications with eye-catching covers while journals are often more dull looking-but don't judge a periodical by its cover.

     Quaratiello, Arlene Rodda. The College Student's Research Companion,

          2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2000.

The following table should help you identify scholarly journals and popular/general interest magazines.

	Scholarly Journal	General Interest Periodical	Popular Magazine
Appearance	sober, serious; may contain graphs & charts, but not pictures; little or no advertising	usually glossy, though some are in newspaper format; heavily illustrated, usually with photographs; some advertising	glossy, slick and attractive; many photographs; much advertising
Authorship	scholar or expert in a particular field	usually a journalist or free lance writer, sometimes a scholar or expert	usually a free lance writer, possibly with little or no knowledge of the subject
Audience	assumes the reader has some scholarly background in the field	assumes the reader is educated, but not a specialist	any audience
Purpose	to report on original research so the information is available to other scholars and researchers	to provide information, in a general manner, to a broad audience of concerned readers	to entertain and to sell products
References	sources are always cited in footnotes and/or bibliographies	sometimes, but not often, cite sources; some provide partial bibliographies	rarely, if ever, cite sources; origin of information may be questionable
Examples	Latin American Perspectives Journal of Experimental Psychology Canadian Historical Review Journal of Marriage and the Family Harvard Business Review Canadian Literature Nature Science New England Journal of Medicine	Economist Scientific American National Geographic Globe and Mail Beaver The Guardian Weekly Canadian Business Review Alternatives Canadian Geographic Equinox	Maclean's Time Saturday Night Parents Psychology Today Sports Illustrated Rolling Stone Chatelaine Canadian Living People Weekly Popular Science Omni Discover
Visual Examples (Click image to visit web site)