3. Academic Journals and Other Periodicals

Introduction to Periodicals

The term "periodical" refers to a publication that appears at regular intervals, that is, periodically. This might be once a week (such as Newsweek or Time) , once a month (Popular Mechanics or Consumer Reports), quarterly, or even annually.

Periodicals are published continuously, over a period of years, with no fixed date at which they will cease publication.

There are two main types of periodicals that we will look at more closely here: magazines and journals.

Magazines

A magazine is a periodical published for a mass audience. As a rule, it contains articles written in an informal, conversational style without footnotes or bibliographies.

A magazine generally includes advertisements and features colorful, eye-catching graphics. Even a magazine that focuses on a specific topic, like computers (PC Magazine) or history (True West ), is designed to appeal to as many people as possible.

A magazine is the kind of publication that you see for sale at a drugstore, newsstand or in a retail store.

Journals

An academic journal is a scholarly publication with articles written by and for specialists in a particular discipline.

The articles in academic journals are written in a formal style and are heavily footnoted with lengthy bibliographies. These articles provide the most current information on research and developments in that discipline.

A journal is generally published for and by professional associations and seldom contains any advertisements. It is not intended for retail sale, but is distributed to association members, libraries, and other subscribers.


Some journals are peer reviewed (or refereed). Prior to publication, articles in these journals are reviewed by specialists of the same discipline.

It's important to note, however, that peer reviewed journals may contain non-peer reviewed content. That is, research studies and other articles within a journal may be peer-reviewed, while opinion pieces, reviews, letters, and other materials may not be. Ask a Librarian if you have a question about whether a particular piece of information that you are looking for is peer-reviewed or not.

So does the fact that an article comes from a peer-reviewed journal mean that everything it says is absolutely true and free from error?

Not necessarily. A recent article published in the Journal of American Medical Association shows that the findings of as many as a third of studies published in the Journal of American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, and other important medical journals are either contradicted outright or shown not to be as significant as first claimed.

As with any information source, it is important that you critically evaluate information you get from journals, and look for corroborating evidence for any research you find from a variety of sources.

Telling the Difference between Magazines and Journals

Your instructor may tell you that he will only accept articles from peer reviewed (or refereed) journals for use in your assignments. Be sure and check with your instructor about the research requirements for each assignment.