CRITERIA
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Scholarly Journals
(also called academic,
peer-reviewed, and refereed)
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Professional and
Trade Periodicals
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Popular and Special
Interest Magazines
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Purpose for
Publication
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- Inform and report original research
- Provide in-depth analysis of issues related to a specific discipline
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- Current trends, news, and research in a specific field
- Provide employment & career information
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- Entertain, inform, and persuade without providing in-depth analysis
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General
Characteristics
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- Lengthy articles
- Citations, bibliographies
- Charts, graphs, tables
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- Some research articles
- Statistics and forecasts
- Sources cited
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- Articles usually fairly short
- Sources generally not cited
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Frequency of
Publication
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|
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- Usually monthly or weekly
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Author
Information
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- Scholars and professors
- Researchers in the field
- Author credentials included
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- Scholars
- Staff writers
- Freelance journalists
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- Freelance journalists
- Editorial staff
- Authors may not be identified
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Article
Characteristics
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- Generally lengthy
- Focus on a narrow subject or piece of research
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- Varying lengths
- Research articles
- News from the field
- "How to" information
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- Usually short
- General information, little detail
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Words and
Jargon Used
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- Terminology used by scholars in the discipline
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- Language specific to those in a given profession
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- Common language and sentence structure, no jargon
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University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign http://www.library.illinois.edu/