How do you tell the difference between Popular, Scholarly, and Trade sources?
Some library databases, like Business Source Complete, allow you to limit to specific source types, such as Scholarly/Peer Reviewed and Trade.
Sometimes, the appearance of the journal or magazine can help you identify the type of source. Popular Magazines are generally glossy, whereas Scholarly Journals tend to be smaller and thicker with plain covers and images.
| Popular Magazines | Scholarly Journals (Including Peer Reviewed) | Trade Publications | |
| Content | Current events; general interest articles | Research results/reports; reviews of research (review articles); book reviews | Articles about a certain business or industry |
| Purpose | To inform, entertain, or elicit an emotional response | To share research or scholarship with the academic community | To inform about business or industry news, trends, or products |
| Author | Staff writers, journalists, freelancers | Scholars/researchers/professors | Staff writers, business/industry professionals |
| Audience | General public | Scholars, researchers, students | Business/industry professionals |
| Review | Staff editor | Editorial board made up of other scholars and researchers. Some articles are peer-reviewed | Staff editor |
| Citations | May not have citations, or may be informal (ex. according to... or links) | Bibliographies, references, endnotes, footnotes | Few, may or may not have any |
| Frequency | Weekly/monthly | Quarterly or semi-annually | Weekly/monthly |
| Ads* | Numerous ads for a variety of products | Minimal, usually only for scholarly products like books | Ads are for products geared toward specific industry |
| Examples | Time; Vogue; Rolling Stone; New Yorker | Journal of American History; Journal of Business Ethics; New England Journal of Medicine | Library Journal; Accounting Today; Supply Chain Management Review |
*Ads may not be visible when viewing articles on a library database
Source: University of Texas Libraries, Creative Commons CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
What is Peer Review? How is it different than an Academic Article? Is it? This NC State University Libraries video answers your questions in 3 minutes!
Peer Review in Three Minutes from NC State University Libraries on Vimeo.
Why can't I find a peer reviewed article about my topic?
When the topic occurred can be one reason why you aren't finding peer reviewed articles or books about your subject. For example, if you want to write about an event or topic that happened last month, there hasn't been enough time for the article to be researched, written, peer reviewed, and published. This graphic gives you an idea of the timeline from when the event occurs to when it might appear in a scholarly (peer reviewed) article or a book:
Sometimes, a topic, especially topics about pop culture and sports, may not have been studied by academics, and so they have not written an article about that topic for peer review. If you ever have trouble finding articles about your topic, talk to a librarian! We can help!
This video reviews refining search results. Skip ahead to about 1:55 to learn how to limit results to Peer Reviewed Sources.