Skip to Main Content
Emory University Emory Libraries

Research Partners Program Guide

Information Cycle

Types of Publications

Descriptions of periodicals/journals

  Examples What you'll find Authors Publisher

Scholarly / Peer Reviewed Journals

 American Journal of Sociology,
Journal of Experimental Psychology
  1. Reports of original research
  2. In-depth analyses of topics
  3. Usually contain Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Literature Cited sections
  4. Use technical or academic vocabulary,
  5. Footnotes, bibliographies; often extensive documentation
 Researchers, academics, professors, scholars Universities, scholarly presses, or academic / research organizations
Professional / Trade Journals American Teacher,
Science News
  1. Written for practitioners in applied fields
  2. Product and company information
  3. Current industry trends and practices
  4. Occasional brief bibliographies. Some sources cited in text
 Professionals in the field or journalists with subject expertise Commercial publishers
or professional/ trade associations
Commentary / Opinion Journals Mother Jones,
National Review,
New Republic
  1. Social & political commentary & analysis
  2. Written from a political viewpoint (liberal, conservative)
  3. Written for a general educated audience
  4. Book reviews
  5. Occasionally cite sources in text or bibliographies
 Variable: academics, journalists, spokespersons for "groups" Commercial publishers or non-profit organizations
Popular Magazines Time
Newsweek
People
  1. Entertainment, current events, hot topics, popular culture
  2. Non-technical language
  3. Written for a general audience
  4. Charts, pictures, graphs
  5. Rarely cite sources
 Mainly journalists, occasionally freelance journalists Commercial publishers
Newspapers New York Times
Washington Post
  1. Current news
  2. Local & regional information
  3. Opinion and commentary
  4. Written for a general audience
  5. Rarely cite sources in full
 Journalists Commercial publishers

From Southwest Minnesota State University Library: https://www.smsu.edu/library/?id=6405 and Clark College Library: http://library.clark.edu/types_of_periodicals