• Tend to have short articles (1-5 pages)
• Cover a variety of topic/subject areas (Time, The New Yorker, Newsweek ). They may also cover a single subject area with the intention of informing or entertaining the readership (Sports Illustrated or Audubon).
• Contain articles that do not contain a bibliography or cited reference page. The reader cannot check the author's information by tracking down and reading the original information source.
• Intended for a non-academic, non-specialized audience.
• Use conventional/conversational language, as opposed to a specialized vocabulary.
• Provide articles written by journalists, rather than researchers or specialists in a given field.
• Provide articles often accompanied by photographs or other illustrations.
• Include extensive commercial advertising.
• Issued frequently (i.e. come out weekly, bi-weekly or monthly).
• Are sometimes in newspaper format.

SCHOLARLY PERIODICALS (also referred to as JOURNALS)

• Include lengthy articles (five to fifty+ pages) which contain original research or results of a study done in a specific subject area (e.g. music theory, psychology, medicine).
• Contain articles with footnotes or cited reference pages. The cited references allow the reader to consult the same material that the author used in his/her research.
• Intended for an academic or scholarly audience and use technical or specialized vocabulary.
• Publish articles written by scholars, specialists, or researchers in the field (as opposed to articles written by journalists reporting on or synthesizing research).
• Publish reviews of the literature.
• Include articles with charts or tables: news photos and other types of graphics are often not used except in the case of articles on visual subjects such as art, design, or architecture.
• Produced under the editorial supervision of a professional association (e.g. Journal of the American Medical Association) or by a scholarly press (e.g. University of Washington Press).
• Contain little or no advertising or photographs.
• Issued less frequently than magazines (i.e. two to twelve times per year.)

TRADE PUBLICATIONS (also called PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS)

• Intended for a very specific audience, usually managers or administrators in business, finance, or industry (e.g. Advertising Age,or Computerweek).
• Issued weekly or monthly to take advantage of fast-breaking changes in products or technology.
• Contain regular columns of news and commentary, as well as lengthier articles about current issues and trends of interest to people in the field.
• Include articles written by specialists or journalists.