Popular Journal
Authors: Reporters, Magazine staff, Freelance Writers |
Audience: General Public |
Purpose: Inform, entertain, cover special interests |
Content: Personalities, news and general interest articles |
Language: Non-technical |
Articles: Brief, providing broad overviews |
Review Process: No Formal peer review process, reviewed by editors on staff |
Bibliography: Articles rarely include references |
Professional/Trade
Authors: Practitioners, Educators, Specialists within the profession or trade |
Audience: Professional in the fields, Researchers, and students |
Purpose: Provide information and news to practitioners in a profession |
Content: New trends, techniques and organizational news |
Language: Technical terminology of the profession |
Articles: Length varies |
Review Process: Includes some peer-review periodicals, most are reviewed by editors (often professionals in the field) |
Bibliography: Occasionally cite sources |
Scholarly Journal
Authors: Scholars, Researchers, Experts in the Field |
Audience: Researchers, Scholars, Students |
Purpose: Inform, report, and share original research and experimentation with the rest of the scholarly world |
Content: Research results, methodology, and theory |
Language: Terminology and language of the discipline, the reader is assumed to have a similar background |
Articles: Lengthy, providing in-depth analysis |
Review Process: Reviewed by a board of experts in the field (refereed) or by the author’s peers (peer-reviewed) |
Bibliography: References/ Bibliographies are always included. Bibliographies or endnotes are informal style |