Popular Magazines vs. Scholarly Journals: How to Tell

Posted by Terri Bogan, MLS

Has your professor told you to cite scholarly or peer reviewed journals in your research papers? This is common at the University level. You are expected to go beyond using Time, Newsweek, and other popular sources and find articles in such publications as Journal of Business Ethics or Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.

How do you know which publications are popular and which are scholarly/peer reviewed though? Popular magazines and scholarly journals have different characteristics that range from the way they look to the targeted audience.

The following video tutorial will help you identify these characteristics and also show you how to limit your topic search to just scholarly/peer reviewed journals in a research database such as ProQuest.

 


Access our Research Databases:

• Go to the Library Home Page at http://library.hiu.edu and choose Research Databases listed under Search Tools, OR ...
• Click the Research Databases tab located above the search box in the middle of the Library Home Page.

Either choice will take you to our Research Databases.

Contact a Librarian for Research Assistance:
Remember, you can always contact a Hope librarian for research help by using our LibAnswers system at http://libanswers.hiu.edu.

See our YouTube Channel:
More video tutorials produced the HIU Library can be found on our YouTube Channel, HIULibrary.

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Terri Bogan is Reference & Instruction Librarian at Hope International University. She is passionate about helping students navigate the ever expanding world of information. She specializes in the area of information literacy and instructional design.