Articles in scholarly journals ALWAYS have citations to their sources in the form of footnotes/endnotes and also contain a bibliography of works consulted.  The authors are careful to thoroughly document their sources.

Names of researchers or research projects may be named, however, articles in popular magazines RARELY cite or document their sources. Often times, no bibliographies of cited works or references are provided.

Citing of sources (footnotes/endnotes, bibliographies) in scholarly journal articles follows a specific formatting style:  APA, MLA, Chicago Style of Manual, etc.

No style manual followed based on above.

Articles in scholarly journals are written by experts in the field and use the language or jargon of the field.

It is assumed that the readers of the journal have some type of background in the field.

Many articles in popular magazines are not written by experts in the field, but rather, by staff writers of the magazine. The articles may or may not be signed.  Articles are written in language that the general public or laypersons can understand.

Articles in scholarly journals are intended for faculty, students, practitioners, and researchers in the field.

Articles published in popular magazines are targeted towards the general public.

Scholarly journals often contain graphs or charts but often do not include glossy pictures, photos or ads from a variety of advertisers. The journals are plain and rather serious looking.

Popular magazines often contain many glossy pages, colorful photos, slick pages, etc. They also often contain ads from a variety of advertisers. The layout of the publication is made to look commercially appealing to consumers.

Scholarly journals often contain articles detailing primary/original research conducted by scholars in the field.  The articles also tend to be in-depth.

Popular magazines may contain secondary sources of information regarding the primary research:  they may report about the research or provide a summary of the research conducted.

Articles in scholarly journals are usually reviewed and critically evaluated by a board of experts in the field (This process is referred to as: peer review or referee.)

Articles in popular magazines are not reviewed by experts in the field, but rather, by staff editors of the publication (who may or may not have any background in the topic of the articles.)

Many scholarly journals are published by professional organizations and some by university presses.

Popular magazines tend to be published by companies and some by individuals.

Examples of Scholarly Journals are:

Communication Quarterly

Communication Studies

Critical Studies in Media

Communication

Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics

Journal of Advertising

Journal of Advertising Research

Journal of Applied Communication

Journal of Business Ethics

Journal of Consumer Policy

Journal of Mass Media Ethics

Journalism  and Mass Communication Quarterly

Journalism Studies

Media Studies Journal

Newspaper Research Journal

Public Relations Review

Western Journal of Communication

Written Communication

Examples of Popular Magazines are:

Better Homes and Gardens

Discover

Ebony

Glamour

Good Housekeeping

Jet

Life

Ms.

National Geographic

New Yorker

Newsweek

Popular Mechanics

Prevention

Readers’ Digest

Redbook

Rolling Stone

Sports Illustrated

Time

U.S. News and World Report

Using Periodical Indexes such as ComIndex, Communication Abstracts, ComAbstracts, ABI-INFORM, Academic Search Elite, Humanities in Proquest, etc. will help you to find references to articles which are published in scholarly journals.

To locate the above periodical indexes from the library home page, go to http://www.marquette.edu/library/; click on "Research Starting Points", and then click on, " Communication". Databases can also be located from clicking on "Research Sources" from the above URL.

If you have questions about the above, please feel free to contact the Raynor Memorial Library Information Desk (288-7556) or Rose Trupiano, Research & Outreach Services Dept. (288-5998) E-mail.