WFI: Scholarly .vs. Popular

Scholarly vs. Popular vs. Journal vs. Magazine

This is an area that students consistently have problems with. The good news is that YOU can help avoid some of the confusion by clearly stating what you mean and then sticking with your choice of jargon. The following excerpt is part of the LIBR 110 & 210 courses that teaches the student the difference between scholarly and popular literature. Quaratiello does a great job describing exactly what happens between the professor/student interaction.

One of the first things to remember is that your students don't know the difference between a journal, a periodical or a magazine. What can you do? When giving an assignment that requires the use of scholarly articles explain to the students what you mean. If you're going to call it a journal - stick with calling it a journal - don't flip-flop between journal and periodical. Be sure to tell the students what you deem acceptable.

There is also the issue of the online periodical databases...rumor has it many professors will not accept these sources. These are not Internet web sites, they are licensed databases that we pay for and they have the full text of many scholarly publications. Most of the articles have what is called a "page image" view. The article is scanned directly from the journal so the student is getting exactly what was in the journal. Please don't confuse the delivery (via the Internet) with the content.

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 it's 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)