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This is a common question. Scholarly journals are also referred to as academic journals, peer-reviewed, juried or refereed. While the following characteristics are not a guarantee they do help provide some guidelines as to whether an item is considered a scholarly journal or magazine.
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Usually the word "journal" in the title is a good indication.
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Scholarly journals often contain articles that describe results of original research. These articles usually include bibliographies, references, charts, tables, illustrations, diagrams or graphs.
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An editorial board or list of reviewers who select articles for publication may be given.
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Author credentials are mentioned at the beginning or end of an article.
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Scholarly journals are commonly indexed in publications such as PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC and MLA. (Many of our OhioLINK databases.)
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Articles in scholarly journals may be distinctly organized into sections such as Purpose, Abstract, Literature Review, Method of Study, Results, Conclusion.
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Compare "American Heritage", which is a magazine with "American Journal of Health Education", which is a scholarly journal.
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Journal Articles |
Magazine Articles |
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Audience |
written in language of the field for a scholarly audience |
written for the general population (non-technical) |
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Authorship |
material submitted by researchers and experts of a particular subject area |
writing done by writers or editors employed by the publication |
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Content |
research reports, conference proceedings |
misc. articles, news, variety of subject |
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Credit |
contains bibliographic references |
few or no bibliographical references |
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Editors |
previewed and reviewed by referees, other experts in the field and/or editors |
reviewed by editors only |
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Layout |
simple, plain layout with illustrations or graphs to supplement writing - little or no advertising |
complex, artistic layout, often with a glossy look and lots of pictures and graphics - lots of advertising |
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Publisher |
scholarly or professional group |
for-profit company |
Look up the journal or magazine description in one of the following reference books:
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