Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

There are three types of publications that may appear in the search results of many social and behavioral sciences databases. These are:

• Scholarly sources -- intended for use in support of conducting in-depth research, often containing specialized vocabulary and extensive references to sources. The content has been reviewed by academic peers to ensure the reliability of methods used and the validity of findings. Scholarly sources help answer the "So What?" question in academic writing and lay the foundation for discovering connections between variables, issues, or events.
• Popular sources -- intended for a general audience of readers, they are written typically to entertain, inform, or persuade. Popular sources help you answer who, what, when, and where questions and are essential for finding information about current events or issues. Popular sources range from research-oriented [but lacking complete citations to sources] to special interest, agenda-driven publications.
• Trade publications -- intended to share general news, trends, and opinions among practitioners in a certain industry or profession. Although generally written by experts, they are not considered scholarly because they are not peer-reviewed and do not focus on advancing new knowledge discovery or reporting research results. Trade journals, however, are an essential source of information in the field of business and specialized industries [e.g., tourism, environmental studies, agriculture, manufacturing, etc.].

Adapted from text originally created by Holly Burt, Behavioral Sciences Librarian, USC Libraries, April 2018.

Popular publications, such as magazines, are written in a more conversational style for the general public. Articles often include eye-catching titles and content designed to sell the publications and attract advertisers. These articles are often written by reporters who talk to the experts, then interpret the technical language of the field in a way everyone can understand them. This peer-review process is valued by professionals in the field – from psychiatrists and doctors to professors and therapists -- because they rely on academic journal articles to stay current with the latest developments in their fields. Note: Not every article in every academic journal is peer-reviewed. However, when searching for articles via the library Web site, you may choose to select peer-reviewed articles as part of your search.

Published in academic journals -- Professors and researchers share their latest work with professionals in their disciplines via academic journals. Journal editors choose research to publish that has the greatest impact in those fields.

The process -- Prior to publication, experts in the author's field will review the article. These "peer reviewers" rigorously read and analyze the research and the writing for errors and missing information. After the review, the author is given the opportunity to correct any problems or to withdraw the article from consideration for publication.

For example -- For example, the popular magazine Psychology Today published an article titled "Revenge of the Introverts" with tips on what not to say to introverts. The peer-reviewed Journal of Personality published "Explaining the Extraversion/Positive Effect Relation: Sociability Cannot Account for Extraverts' Greater Happiness," including 30 pages of research data and charts.

Image Credit: Wiley.