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Magazines vs. Journals: What's the difference?
Scholarly
Journals
- Authors are experts/authorities in their fields.
- Authors cite their sources in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies.
- Individual issues have little or no advertising.
- Articles must go through a peer-review process (experts in the discipline evaluate each author's work before any articles are published).
- Articles are usually reports on scholarly research.
- Illustrations usually take the form of charts and graphs.
- Articles use jargon of the discipline.
- Articles are typically five or more
pages in length.
Popular
Magazines
- Authors are magazine staff members/regular columnists or free lance writers.
- Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally cite them in bibliographies.
- Individual issues contain numerous advertisements.
- There is no peer review process.
- Articles are meant to inform and entertain (thus they are also thought of as consumer publications because they are published for a wide audience).
- Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
- Language is geared to the general adult audience (no specialized knowledge of jargon needed).
- Articles are typically fairly short (one or two columns to one or a few pages).
Where do I start researching my topic?
You might start researching your topic in an interdisciplinary database such as Academic Search Complete or InfoTrac. If you don't find adequate sources, try one or more discipline specific databases, listed below or through the "All Databases for Finding Articles" link in the lefthand column.
- Academic Search CompleteCovers social sciences, humanities, education, arts & literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, and more.
- InfoTrac PowerSearchOur largest database: includes the entire content of five other databases: InfoTrac General OneFile , Academic OneFile, Opposing Viewpoints Reference Center, InfoTrac Custom Newspapers, and the Gale Virtual Reference Library.
- News and Current EventsSome topics may lend themselves to finding newspaper articles, especially if you're researching current events.
Researching Health/Mental Health related topics?
Researching topics related to education and intervention programs?
Try the ERIC database for topics such as school/campus drug prevention programs, etc.
- ERICUse ERIC for researching any topic related to education.
Researching Laws/Legal information?
- Finding Montana, U.S. or International Legal infoUse LexisNexis (Legal Information link) to find MT, US and international laws, law reviews (scholarly articles about legal issues), etc. Note the other databases for doing research on a variety of law and policy related topics.
Use Criminal Justice Abstracts for topics on the illicit drug use or the illegal use of prescription or over the counter drugs. - Governors Highway Safety Association Drunk Driving Laws
- Montana Code Annotated (State Laws)
- Montana Law: Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety DUI/DWI LawsWhile this appears to be a credible resource, as with any source of info, you might consider double checking the information you find with other sources.
- U.S. Law: 36 CFR part 4: operating under the influence of alcohol or drugsDUI on federal lands (otherwise state laws apply).
- US Code (Law) Title 23 - Highways: DUI Repeat Offenders
Who can help me if I'm stumped? |
 Mary Anne Hansen Contact Info Renne Library, Rm 117D Montana State University PO Box 173320 Bozeman, MT 59717-3320 406.994.3162, voice 406.994.2851, fax mhansen@montana.edu Send Email |
APA resources
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