The following General Guidelines describe the three main types of periodicals: popular magazines, trade publications, and scholarly journals. Not all periodicals fall into these categories. If you aren't sure if a publication is appropriate for your assignment, ask your instructor.
| Criteria | Popular magazines | Trade publications | Scholarly journals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | general public | members of a specific industry or organization | university community, researchers and professionals |
| Authors |
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| Accountability | reviewed by an editor | reviewed by an editor | peer reviewed or refereed |
| Content | often consists of opinion, interviews, discussions of news or other popular subjects | topics of interest to practicing professionals in a particular industry | Results of a research study done by the authors, or arguments or analysis based on documented evidence |
| Documentation | may have no references to other sources, and no bibliographies or footnotes | may have a few references to other sources, with short bibliographies | always contains many references to other sources, given in a bibliography or footnotes |
| Frequency | usually weekly or monthly | usually weekly or monthly | usually quarterly |
| Language | non-specialized language for a wide audience | may contain specialized terminology used within the industry | more complex, specialized language with frequent use of academic terms and concepts |
| Publisher | commercial | commercial or industry association | university press or scholarly society |
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