The best way to define Popular magazines is to think about the titles you would purchase in the drug store or grocery store. They are easy to read, have lots of advertising, and pictures. The articles usually cover topics of current interest or importance. Rarely are these appropriate for academic research projects. Common examples of these kinds of magazines are Time, PC World, Sports Illustrated or USA Today.

Trade/professional journals are journals that usually you receive because you have a membership in a trade or organization. They may be included as a benefit of your membership. The articles give current news, developments, trends and discuss current issues of that association or trade. For some kinds of research assignments it may be appropriate to use references from these kinds of journals for your writing. Some examples of trade/profesional journals are NASSP, The Christian Librarian, AORN or The Government Accountants Journal

Scholarly journals These articles are about research studies and can be lengthy. They often begin with an abstract of the article to follow. It includes a reference list at the end or has footnotes. This reference list can be used to find more sources like the one you are reading. The writing uses technical words and may be difficult to understand if you are not used to the specialized vocabulary. The journal includes few pictures or advertisements, but may include tables, charts, and diagrams as a part of the articles. The authors tend to be academicians or researchers. The articles are reviewed by an editorial board before acceptance for publication. It is known as a peer reviewed or refereed journal. Some of the online databases, e.g. InfoTrac Expanded Academic, allow limiting your search for results that are only from peer reviewed journals. Some examples of scholarly journals are Journal of Business Ethics, Personnel Psychology, Elementary School Journal or Journal of Organizational Behavior. This cataegory of journals is much more acceptable for research in the academic setting.

To locate scholarly articles take note of some of the following points:

• the journal name may be known for publishing only scholarly articles. Each discipline has it own set of scholarly titles.
• author may be identified as a prominent researcher in the discipline
• the title may include such works as Journal, Quarterly, Archives, Annals, Review, Society, or perhaps Studies
• the articles tend to be rather long and are not "easy reading."
• the article will have a bibliography, references, or footnotes.
• the author's credentials are usually included
• the content and way that the article is written depends greatly on the specialized terminology of the discipline
• the content is usually based on original research and not just personal opinion
• check with a librarian as there are reference tools that librarians use that say whether a titles is referreed or not.

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