Concordia College, Moorhead

 
Common Periodical Characteristics
 

Criteria

Scholarly/Academic Journals

Popular Magazines

Professional/Trade Journals

Appearance

Academic journals have a serious, sober appearance.  They are often printed in black and white.  These articles often present data using tables, graphs or charts.  They rarely contain photographs or colorful art.

Popular magazines are slick and glossy with graphics, photographs, illustrations and eye-catching cover stories.  Their covers are bright and attractive.  Articles include pictures of people, places or things (e.g. cars, homes, movie stars, etc.).

Professional/trade journals have a format similar to popular magazines.  Many have covers portraying an industrial setting.  They use glossy paper, pictures and color illustrations but not as often as popular magazines. 

Purpose

The main purpose of an academic journal is to inform, report and make available original disciplinary research done by scholars and experts in a field.

The main purpose of a popular magazine is to entertain and inform a broad segment of the population without providing in-depth analysis.

The main purpose of a professional/trade journal is to report on industry trends, new products or techniques useful to people in a profession, trade or business.

Subjects

Academic journals are often devoted to a single discipline or sub-discipline.  They include research articles on specialized topics of interest only to members of a particular academic field.

Popular magazines often focus on a particular subject or hobby.  However, they cover a variety of topics within a single issue.  Articles may focus on current events or popular topics of the day.

Professional/trade journals cover practical information related to a field or industry.  The articles range from brief news to serious opinion pieces to reviews of current research in an industry.

Authors

Articles in academic journals are written by subject specialists and experts.  These journals are usually published by a scholarly publisher like a university press or professional association. 

Articles in popular magazines may be written by journalists, freelance writers or an editorial staff.  These magazines are usually published by a commercial publisher.

Articles in professional/ trade journals are written by specialists in a certain field or industry. 

Audience

Academic journals are intended for a limited audience - researchers and specialists who are peers of the contributors. 

Popular magazines are intended for a broad segment of the population.  They appeal to non-specialists.

Professional/trade journals are intended for practitioners in a particular profession, business or industry. 

Advertising

Academic journals have very little or no advertising.

Popular magazines have many ads.  These advertisements are often a prominent feature.

Professional/trade journals have advertisements directly related to a profession or trade.

Titles
(Examples)

• Cognitive Psychology

• Contemporary Literature

• Journal of American History

• Journal of the American Dietetic Association

• Glamour

• Good Housekeeping

• National Geographic 

• People Weekly

• Sports Illustrated

• Advertising Age

• The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter

• Computerworld

• Nursing Times

Online
(Examples)