What is a Periodical? A periodical is any source that is published at regular intervals, such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc. They can be journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. Periodicals can be popular or scholarly in nature.
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What is a Scholarly Periodical? It is an academic journal; a published work of a particular discipline or subject written by a scholar or person of expertise. Used for teaching, continual learning, and professional development. Generally called a journal.
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What is a Popular Periodical? Sports, Hobbies, Lifestyle, etc. Appealing to or intended for the general public; liked by many people. Generally called a magazine.
Periodicals can also be located on databases and the web: these criteria may be applied to the online version of print periodicals, web-based electronic periodicals as well as the traditional print magazines and journals.
Journals:
- Journals have a very serious appearance, with many graphs and charts, but few glossy pages or exciting pictures.
- Scholarly journals always cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies (references, sources).
- The articles are written by a scholar in the field or by someone who has done research in the field. The credentials of these individuals are always given.
- The articles are usually long, anywhere from 3-10 pages.
- The language or terminology of scholarly journals is that of the discipline covered. It assumes some scholarly background on the part of the reader.
- The main purpose of a scholarly journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world.
- Many of the scholarly are published by a specific professional organizations.
Magazines:
- Magazines are often referred to as "popular.” They come in many formats, often quite attractive in appearance, with many photographs, drawings, etc. They also contain advertisements.
- Magazines rarely cite sources and the original source is sometimes obscure.
- Articles are usually very short, written in a simple language, and are designed to meet an average educational level.
- Popular magazines appeal to a wide range of people.
- The main purpose of popular magazines is to entertain the reader, to sell products, and to promote a viewpoint.
