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Information Power/PERIODICALS

So What's a Periodical?      And What's a Scholarly Journal?
The simplest answer is that a periodical is a magazine, journal, or newspaper.  Something that is published in a periodic fashion, e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, etc. There are thousands of them.  This may make it difficult to find the exact article that you need in order to do your research.

Articles in current periodicals are the best source of information for reading about recent events and topics of current interest. 

In scholarly journals you will discover the published findings of original research which is primary information.

What are the distinguishing characteristics of a SCHOLARLY JOURNAL?

	MAGAZINE	SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
Author*	Sometimes the author is not named; journalist	Author nearly always named; expert in the field
Notes*	Generally no reference notes	Usually includes notes and/or bibliography
Style	Written for mass market, current events, general interest	Written for scholars, experts in the field, students doing research; many include graphs, charts, research findings
Selection	Editors of magazine select articles to be included	Usually selected by a panel of experts in the field (referees)
Advertisements	Many, varied, often colorful	Few or none; related to professional materials
Appearance	Glossy, many pictures	Mostly print; few pictures
Frequency	Usually weekly or monthly	Usually monthly or quarterly
Examples	Time, Newsweek (Current news magazines)	American Anthropologist
	Essence, Vogue, Ladies Home Journal, Sport (Popular topics such as sports, travel, fashion)	American Indian Quarterly
	The American Spectator (Conservative opinion)	Scientific American
	The Nation (Liberal opinion)

       **Characteristics: AUTHOR and NOTES are the most important in identifying a scholarly journal.
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