Scholarly Journals and Popular Magazines

By

Aparna Zambare

What is the Difference?

Scholarly: Authors are

authorities in their fields/specialists/experts/scholars/researchers

Include author’s credentials

Popular: Authors are

magazine staff members or free lance writers/generalists

Often exclude author’s credentials

Difference….

Scholarly: Authors cite their

sources in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies

Popular: Authors mention

sources but seldom cite them in formal bibliographies

Difference ….

Scholarly: Articles go through

peer-review process

Almost no advertising and color

Popular: No peer-review

process

Contain numerous advertisements and color

Difference ….

Scholarly: Articles inform or

report research Illustrations – in

the form of charts, diagrams, or graphs to explain research

Popular: Articles normally

entertain Illustrations -

Numerous and colorful to add marketing appeal

Difference ….

Scholarly: Language – Use of

jargon specific to the particular discipline

Often have an abstract at the beginning of the article

Popular: Language – Simple

and everyday Rarely contain

abstracts

Difference ….

Scholarly: Often published by

professional organization or university

Indexed in subject indexes, such as MLA, PsychInfo . . .

Popular: Published for profit Indexed in popular

indexes