Below is a listing of general characteristics which can be used to identify differences between popular magazines and scholarly journals. Some magazines and journals, however, may not meet all the criteria in any one category. Some publications may mix 'magazine' content with more scholarly 'journal articles', so judge by the individual article as well as the entire publication. Besides, with the availability of full text articles from databases, it may be difficult to judge characteristics of the publication as a whole.
| Popular Magazines | Scholarly Journals* | |
| Appearance | Attractive appearance, eye-catching cover Pictures and illustrations in color |
May have less flashy cover |
| Audience |
Non-professionals, general audience |
Professors, scholars, researchers, or students Written in the technical language of the field |
| Content | Personalities, news, and general interest articles A wide variety of subjects Articles written by staff, may be unsigned |
Original research, discoveries, or experimentation Research projects, their methodology, and significance Articles written by contributing authors, with institution indicated |
| Advertisements | Heavy | Few or none |
| Reviewers | Reviewed by editors | Reviewed by editors, peers, and referees |
| Documentation | Few or no bibliographic references | Bibliographic references (footnotes, end notes, etc.) |
| Examples |
National Geographic |
Biology of the Cell Social Forces School Science Review Journal of Health Care Management |
*sometimes also referred to as 'academic', 'refereed' or 'peer reviewed' articles
A third type of periodical is the trade journal: