What is a scholarly journal and how is it different from a magazine or newspaper? All three are called periodicals because they are published at periodic intervals throughout the year.
- Newspapers are the first draft of history, but are not scholarly.
- Magazines are good sources of information or opinions about popular culture or up-to-date information on current events, but are not scholarly.
- Scholarly or peer-reviewed journals have collections of articles written by experts in academic or professional fields.
Such journals are excellent for finding out what has been studied or researched on a topic, and to find bibliographies that point to other relevant sources of information. Please note: the word "journal" is not necessarily in the title of a scholarly publication.