The purpose of scholarly journal articles is to publish findings from original research. On the other hand, popular journals publish articles on contemporary topics for the general public. To better understand the differences between these types of publications, compare the qualities, characteristics, and intended audience of popular and scholarly journals.
Examples of magazines that contain popular articles:
Covers of popular magazines where articles intended for the general population are published.
Examples of academic journals that contain scholarly articles:
Covers of academic journals where original research is published.
Some assignments require the use of peer-reviewed journal articles. Use these methods to determine if a journal is peer-reviewed.
Please note that academic journals may also contain articles that are not peer-reviewed, such as letters to the editor, editorials, book reviews, and other commentary.
The Peer-Review Process
While magazines, trade journals, and newspapers employ editors and journalists to cover stories, academic journals follow a different process for soliciting and publishing articles in their publications. An academic journal's purpose is to publish original research findings. Articles submitted to scholarly journals by academics and researchers go through a rigorous review called the peer-review process. Editors determine whether submissions fit within the journal's scope and whether the research used accepted scientific research principles and research findings add something new to the body of knowledge. If an article is selected, it is sent to a committee of experts--or peers--for review and comment. The committee may recommend edits and other changes to the article. It is then returned to the author to make revisions. Following revision, it is resubmitted to the editor where it may undergo the peer-review process again until it is ready for publication.
Trade journals are published for members of a particular profession or trade group. They are a great source for industry trends, new products, best practices, and organizational policy. Article authors are usually active in the industry and the purpose of many articles is to provide practical information that can be applied immediately in the workplace. Articles in trade journals:
Covers of trade journals, a good source for trade and industry information.
Research involves developing a hypothesis and devising a plan to gather data to test the validity of the hypothesis. There are various research methods used across disciplines. Researchers select the research method that best fits their research question.
There are three categories of research methods used when conducting a research study. They are:
Use the table below to gain a deeper understanding of the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods:
Quantitative |
Qualitative |
Methods of data collection include: questionnaires, data mining (such as chart review), scales (ex. Likert) |
Methods of data collection include: focus groups, interviews, open-ended question surveys |
Data analysis: Statistical (uses software like SPSS) |
Data analysis: Thematic* |
Results are numbers focused, looks for relationships (correlation) among variables, effectiveness of interventions |
Results are a narrative (story), quotes from participants or surveys** |
Focuses on measurement |
Focuses on description |
Often has larger sample sizes - randomization |
Often has small sample sizes - purposeful (snowball) |
Rigor: Reliability and validity |
Rigor: Trustworthiness |
Looks for generalizability*** |
Not meant to be generalizable |
Tests theory |
Develops theories and frameworks |
When evaluating a peer-reviewed article, read through the methods section to understand the research design and sample size or number of participants in the study. This is another factor you can use to evaluate the quality of the research.