Audience: scholars in the field
Purpose: to educate and publicize research
Use: good for expert opinion and in-depth study
Databases to try: ProQuest, Academic Search Elite, and others

Scholary journals are also referred to as "academic", "refereed", or "peer-reviewed" journals.  Their articles are usually considered the most reliable and authoritative.  In refereed or peer-reviewed journals, the editor also makes the initial decision to consider the article draft for publication, but then the editor sends the unpublished draft out to be reviewed by “experts”.  These experts then read the paper, and advise one of the following: publish it, don’t publish it, or have the author make revisions before publishing it.  This process means that the time required before an article draft gets published can be considerably longer, but also that it should be considered more reliable and authoritative because of the additional scrutiny.  Perhaps the most important type of article published in refereed journals is reports of original research, analysis or interpretation, and responses to them.  These journals tend to focus on a rather narrow subject matter, and their titles often tell the tale:  e.g.  Cell Proliferation, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of the History of Philosophy.  General article databases such as ProQuest Research Library or Academic Search Elite will contain the leading journals in any subject area, but many other scholarly journals, and their articles, will only be found in specialized, subject-specific databases rather than the general databases.  Scholarly articles include, at the end, a list of other articles and books the author deems relevant to the article; you might wish to read some of these as you do your own research.

Popular, News and Opinion Magazines

Audience: general public
Purpose: to entertain, inform, and make a profit for the publisher
Use: good for current topics, trends and culture
Databases to try: ProQuest, Academic Search Elite

These various types of magazines all have one thing in common: they are intended for and available to the general public.  In popular magazines, the editor is the person who decides whether or not to publish an article draft, whether it was submitted unsolicited (they got it in the mail), or commissioned (they asked for it).  The decision to publish is often based on what will help the magazine sell the most copies.  Some of their physical characteristics include lots of advertisements and color photos but no bibliographies or footnotes; more staff writers (often without by-lines) instead of expert researchers; shorter summary articles instead of in-depth exploration.  They can cover very current topics and trends, popular culture and interests, and so on.  In the historical context, they can be considered primary sources.  These magazines and their articles are generally found in general-purpose databases such as ProQuest or Academic Search Elite.

Trade Magazines

Audience: specific professionals or hobbyists
Purpose: to share new information in the field
Use: good for subject-specific information
Databases to try: Pick one from our Additional Databases list.

Think of trade magazines as a Time or Newsweek for a particular profession, trade or industry.  In other words, trade magazines report on current news and developments in a particular field.  Often the magazine’s title will tell you immediately for whom it is written, e.g. the magazine Professional Builder is for professional builders of single-family houses and small-scale apartment buildings; the magazine Guitar Player is for professional and amateur guitarists.  What they all have in common is current news in their fields, product reviews, reports on new research, or even pending legislation. Many of these journals, and their articles, will only be found in specialized, subject-specific, databases rather than the general databases.

Alternative Press

Audience: anyone with interests outside the mainstream public
Purpose: to represent and report from an alternative perspective
Use: good for exposure to diverse viewpoints
Databases to try: Ethnic NewsWatch, Genderwatch

Mainstream publications often do not report or address the viewpoints or concerns of smaller interest groups.  Alternative publications usually have a clearly stated editorial viewpoint or bias.  They encompass magazines, newspapers and sometimes newsletters for ethnic groups, feminist, activist, regional, and political groups, and so on.  The articles can fit into any of the three general magazine formats (scholarly, trade, and popular).  Although you must, as always, be careful about the quality of the material you use, the value of these publications is their ability to provide a unique perspective not frequently represented elsewhere.  Additional information about detecting bias is available in the "Evaluate: Criteria for Articles" section of Signpost.

Newspapers

Audience: general public
Purpose: to report most recent news
Use: good for current and/or local events
Databases to try: Lexis-Nexis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in ProQuest

Newspapers are the traditional way of finding out the day’s news and events, though they are being replaced to some extent by the Internet.  Since they are often daily publications, they can report the very latest events and developments.  In the historical context, they can also be considered primary sources.

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