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Identifying and Evaluating Periodicals

  Scholarly Journal Trade Journal Magazine Newspaper
Length of Articles Long – many pages Short Short Short
Authors of Articles Academic scholars and researchers. Professionals in the field; journalists with subject expertise. Journalists; freelance writers. Journalists
References or Sources Long list of references for most articles. Some articles have a few references. Sources might be partly identified in article. Sources might be partly identified in the article.
Graphics Graphs, charts and tables. Few or no colors. Ads are very rare. Photographs; a few graphs, charts and tables; trade-related ads. Many photos and other graphics. Lots of colors. Lots of ads, including full-page ads. Photos and other graphics in black and white. Lots of ads; some are full-page.
Publisher Professional societies. University and scholarly presses. Research institutes. Professional society or trade group; commercial publisher. Commercial publisher Commercial publisher
What is useful for a
research paper?		 Published research results that can be cited to back up an argument. Recent news in a particular field; book reviews (can search for books in library) Short news articles on current events; interviews with political leaders, etc. Latest news on a topic.  Local papers are useful for local issues.
Examples Journal of Criminal
Justice Education

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Library Journal

Today’s Chemist at Work

Science

Newsweek

Time

PEOPLE

Sports Illustrated

Fortune

The New York Times

The Washington Post

The Wall Street Journal

Based on a table by Gail Gradowski. Source: Gradowski, Gail. “Figure 3-5. Types of Periodicals.” Designs for Active Learning. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998. p. 15.
Prepared by Caroline Labbé, NOVA Annandale Library, Nov. 2005; updated Sept. 2006