Popular or Scholarly?

There are several types of periodical publications found in research library collections. Knowing something about the characteristics of each type-popular, scholarly or trade-will help you identify periodical titles appropriate to the type of writing you are looking for.

Popular Periodicals (also referred to as Magazines)

• Tend to have short articles (1-5 pages).
• Cover a variety of topic/subject areas (Time, The New Yorker, National Review). Conversely, they may cover a single subject area-Sports Illustrated or Audubon are good examples-with the intention of informing or entertaining the readership.
• Have articles that do not contain a bibliography or cited reference page. The reader cannot check the author's information by tracking down and reading the original information source.
• Are intended for a non-academic, non-specialized audience.
• Use conventional/conversational language, as opposed to a specialized vocabulary.
• Contain articles written by journalists, rather than researchers or specialists in a given field.
• Contain articles often accompanied by photographs or other illustrations.
• Contain extensive commercial advertising.
• Are issued frequently (i.e., come out weekly, biweekly or monthly).

Scholarly Periodicals (also referred to as Journals)

• Often contain lengthy articles (five to fifty pages).
• Generally confine the subject matter to a single, very specific aspect of a subject area (e.g., music theory, European political science, film studies, language development).
• Contain articles with footnotes or cited reference pages. The cited references allow the reader to consult the same material that the author used in his/her research.
• Are intended for an academic or scholarly audience.
• Use technical or specialized vocabulary.
• Publish articles written by academics, specialists or researchers in the field (as opposed to articles written by journalists reporting on or synthesizing research).
• Often publish reviews of the literature.
• Often include articles with charts or tables: news photos and other types of graphics are not often used, save in the case of articles on visual subjects, such as art, design or architecture.
• Are often produced under the editorial supervision of a professional association (e.g., Journal of the American Medical Association) or by a scholarly press (e.g., Elsevier, Pergamon).
• Contain little or no advertising.
• Are issued less frequently than magazines (i.e., two to twelve times per year).

Trade Publications (also called Professional Publications)

There is a third type of publication, often referred to as trade or professional. These publications are geared towards very specific audiences, usually managers or administrators in business, finance, and industry. They are issued weekly or monthly to take advantage of fast-breaking changes in products or technology. They often contain regular columns of news and commentary, as well as lengthier articles about current issues and trends of interest to people in the field. Articles may be written by specialists or journalists. Examples of better known trade publications include Beverage Industry, Adweek, and Food Processing.

Grey Areas

There are always grey areas with respect to pinning down what is popular or scholarly. Titles like Harpers, Atlantic Monthly, Parabola, and Science contain sophisticated writing, footnoted articles, and authors that hold advanced degrees. At the same time, they display advertisements, have regular columns, photos, and brief articles, and are published by large media conglomerates.

If you are concerned about whether the article you want to use falls within a particular category, look for a bibliography, or lack of one, at the end of the article. Also, look for a brief biography of the author, either at the beginning of the article, or at the end of the publication, for information about the author's education and/or institutional affiliation. Most scholarly publications will identify the department and college, university or research lab where the author works. If you still have questions about what type of publication you have selected, after identifying these distinguishing features, talk with a reference librarian or your instructor.

Indexes

The most efficient way to locate articles in periodicals is to use indexes. If you know an author's name, have a general description of the subject(s) you want, or the title of a magazine or journal you are interested in looking at, there is probably an index available to help you find what you need.

Finding the Right Indexes

University libraries have hundreds of different indexes covering all subject areas and types of publications. Some indexes focus exclusively on providing access to the contents of popular magazines. The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and The Alternative Press Index are two of the more frequently used sources for finding News articles on current issues. In college and university libraries, where most of the periodicals in the collection are scholarly, the majority of indexes are geared towards providing access to academic publications. There are indexes that cover a single subject area (Social Work Abstracts, Philosopher's Index, and America: History & Life), as well as indexes that cover a number of different, though interrelated, disciplines (Social Sciences Index, Humanities Index, MLA Bibliography). Use the online Expanded Academic Index to look for both scholarly and/or popular sources on a subject or topic. The software will allow you to look at and compare selections your retrieve.

Indexes in the collection are available in a variety of formats. In addition to print volumes, an ever-increasing number of indexes are searchable electronically. Some of these indexes contain full-text articles. A number of these databases are available in CD-ROM format, most are networked and can be searched through LUMINA. Each campus library provides computer terminals that offer access to electronic indexes

With so many index options to choose from, finding the appropriate indexes to search can be the most important step in any search for periodical articles. For additional help determining which indexes are best suited to your needs, consult the guide racks in reference area lobbies, talk with a reference librarian or select QuickStart from LUMINA. Follow instructions to identify indexes in your field of study or your topic.