Scholarly and non-scholarly periodicals: About Periodicals

Definitions of periodicals.....

• Publications which are issued at least twice a year, including journals, magazines and newspapers.
• Publications such as magazines, newspapers and journals that are published at regular intervals, usually daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.
• Publications issued on a regular or periodic basis. Newspapers, magazines, newsletters, scholarly, professional, trade, and popular journals are ...
• Publications issued in successive parts at regular intervals, including journals, magazines and newspapers. ...
• magazines, serials, newspapers, journals, standing orders. Libraries call anything that is received on a regular basis a periodical. They include magazines like Sports Illustrated or journals such as Journal of Marriage and the Family.

Journals and magazines, collectively referred to as periodicals, are important sources of up-to-date information in all disciplines. In the future you may need to read a particular type of periodical known as a scholarly or research-oriented journal. This guide is designed to help you distinguish between a scholarly journal and other types of periodicals.

Periodical Classification

There are four broad categories of periodicals: 1) scholarly or research-oriented, 2) professional, trade, or industry, 3) news or opinion, and 4) popular. Use the information below to help you distinguish between a scholarly journal and other types of periodicals.

If In Doubt

A periodical may not be clearly within one of the four categories outlined above. If in doubt you can:

• See Bill Katz's print version Magazine for Libraries (Ref/Z/6941/M23). Use the title index at the back to locate your periodical.
• Use Ulrichs International Periodicals database. It has title and keyword search abilities that help you locate periodicals in many areas. When you get your results, look for the icon that tells you if a journal is refereed (peer reviewed).

Peer Review in Three Minutes

Watch this video below for a crash course in the idea of peer-reviewed articles.