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Source type What is it? Examples Best Used For

Popular Magazines These are well known magazines,

newspapers, and websites available online

or in-print. They are usually sold in places

like bookstores or newsstands. The

magazines tend to have glossy covers and

usually include photographs. What they all

have in common is that they are written by

staff writers, cover a wide variety of topics.

They are reviewed by a professional staff

editor and the authors use non-technical

language in order to reach the widest

possible audience.

Magazines:

 People

 National Geographic

 Time

Websites:

 Digg

 The Huffington Post

 ThinkProgress

Because these are so general, they are not

the best sources for scholarly research.

Some can be good preliminary sources for

current events, but talk with your professor

about using any popular publication as a

resource.

Note: Wikipedia is NOT a acceptable source

for scholarly work.

Scholarly Journals These journals have a deep focus on one

particular academic topic and use subject

focused language. The articles in these

journals are written by experts in their

field. Majority of the authors will have a

PhD or MD after their names and in many

cases there are multiple authors. These

journals do not contain many photos, but

do provide charts and graphs. Most of

these journals also go through a process

called PEER REVIEW (see next page)

Journals:

 The Leadership Quarterly

 Counselling Psychology Review

 Educational Psychology Review

 School Psychology Quarterly

The publications have a narrow focus and

are good for when you have a focused re-

search topic. These journals are where you

will find the most recent information on a

topic, as well as ongoing research and

trends.

Source Type What is it? Examples Best Used For

Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed articles present both new

research information and critiques on

current issues in an academic field. During

the Peer Reviewed process, other experts in

the field review the writer’s article and

provide corrections to ensure that the

information is factual, unbiased and adds to

the current body of knowledge. Because of

the Peer Review process, these journals are

considered a valuable source for academic

research papers.

See Scholarly Journals

“Peer-reviewed and scholarly journals are

related but not identical. Not all scholarly

journals go through the peer-review

process. However, one can assume that a

peer-reviewed journal is scholarly.”

(Source: http://lib.calpoly.edu/support/how-to/find-articles)

See Scholarly Journals

*Note: Articles can be peer reviewed, but

other pieces such as editorials or book

reviews are not.

Professional &

Trade Magazines/

Journals

These are magazines that focus their

content on the needs of those who work in a

specific industry. Professional magazines

are published by a professional organiza-

tion. Profession and Trade use field specific

language in their articles. Many of the

articles are very field specific but the

authors may not always be academic.

Professional Journals:

 Library Journal

 Psychology Today

 Education Week

Trade Magazines:

 Billboard

 Bio Techniques

 Variety

Although some of the articles are not peer

reviewed, they can provide important

information. Consult your professor about

using an article from a professional/trade

magazine or journal.