Scholarly Journals & Popular Magazines

College students are required to use scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles for most writing assignments. This guide describes the differences between scholarly and popular periodicals.

Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals	Popular Magazines
Main purpose: to inform and to report on original research or experimentation.	Main purpose: to provide information or to entertain.
Serious look; mostly text, may have charts, graphs, and illustrations.	Usually quite attractive, glossy in appearance; articles often heavily illustrated. Includes newspapers.
Always cite their sources in footnotes or bibliographies; usually have an abstract at the beginning; addresses, credentials of authors usually included.	Sometimes cite sources, though most often do not.
Articles are reviewed by scholars or researchers in the field before being published (peer reviewed).	No peer review process; editorial team makes all content decisions.
Articles are written by a scholar or researcher in the field.	Articles are written by editorial staff, scholars or freelance writers.
Uses the language of the discipline; assumes reader has some background in the field.	Language understood by general readers.
Examples: American Political Science Review Cell Journal of Health & Social Behavior Modern Fiction Studies Nature The Historian	Examples: Atlantic Monthly Economist National Geographic People Weekly Scientific American Sports Illustrated
An article is scholarly if it: Is 7-20+ pages long. Includes footnotes or bibliography. Is written by professors or scholars. Is found in a peer-reviewed journal. Includes an abstract at beginning.	An article is popular if it: Is 2-5 pages long. Is slick and attractive with lots of photographs and drawings. Lacks cited sources. Written in easily understood language. Sometimes informs, but mostly entertains the reader.

For an excellent overview: Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals (Vanderbilt University)