Unsure what a scholarly journal article looks like? This Interactive tutorial identifies sections that should appear in a scholarly journal article.
Is it scholarly? The following table will help you decide. It compares general magazines, news & analysis magazines, trade/industry journals, professional journals, and scholarly journals. Still unsure? The box to the left walks you through the characteristics of a scholarly journal article.
General | News & Analysis | Trade & Industry | Professional | Scholarly | |
Audience
|
Written for a very general and broad audience. |
Written for a broad audience of concerned citizens. |
Written for those with an interest in a particular industry. |
Written for those with an interest in a particular profession. |
Written for scholars, professionals, researchers, students within the field. |
Purpose |
General information, with a purpose to entertain or inform. Secondary discussion of someone else's research. May include personal narrative or opinion. |
News and/or analysis of current events. |
Industry-related information, current events, ideas, products, services, job ads. |
Practical information for those working in the profession: developments, research articles, trends, products. |
In-depth original scholarly research, with the goal of scholarly communication. |
Appearance |
Colorful and attractive. Heavily illustrated, often with photographs. Lots of ads. |
Typically colorful and attractive. Ads. |
Color photographs, visually appealing, industry-specific ads |
Profession-related ads, some graphics and charts. |
Generally have a sober, serious look. May contain graphs and charts, with very few photos or ads. |
Examples |
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|
General |
News & Analysis |
Trade & Industry |
Professional |
Scholarly |
Language |
Uses general language, usually on a ninth grade reading level. |
Uses general language. |
Uses specialized terminology or jargon of the field. |
Uses many technical terms specific to the profession. |
Uses technical terminology specific to the subject. Requires expertise in the subject. |
Authors |
Authors are journalists or staff writers. |
Authors are staff writers, scholars, or freelance writers. |
Authors are professionals within the field or journalists with subject expertise. |
Authors are professionals within the field or journalists with subject expertise. |
Authors are specialists, researchers, scholars within the field. |
Sources |
Little, if any information about sources is provided. |
Little, if any information about sources is provided. |
Occasional references are provided. |
Occasional references are provided. |
Sources or references are provided. Facts are verifiable, source information used is verifiable. |
Pagination |
Each issue begins with page one. |
Each issue begins with page one. |
Each issue begins with page one. |
Each issue begins with page one. |
Each volume/year begins with page one, and consecutively continues through the end of the volume/year. |
|
General |
News & Analysis |
Trade & Industry |
Professional |
Scholarly |
Examples |
Ebony, Readers' Digest, Newsweek, People, Sports Illustrated, Time. |
National Geographic, Economist, New York Times, Nation, National Review, Atlantic Monthly. |
Billboard, Beverage World, Computerworld, Editor & Publishers, Oil and Gas Investor. |
Physical Therapy, Phi Delta Kappan, Reading Teacher, Music Educators Journal. |
Journal of Marketing, Sex Roles, Analytical Chemistry, American Sociological Review. |
Sources: Piedmont College Library, Olympic College Library, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Ana College Library, OASIS, San Francisco State University.