Ask WWU Libraries

Most periodicals are categorized as scholarly, trade, or popular publications depending upon the content and intended audience. 

• Popular Periodicals are those that are intended for a general audience and include newspapers, news magazines, and fashion or hobby magazines. If you can buy the periodical at Barnes & Noble it is likely in this category. 
• Trade Periodicals are a type of popular periodical aimed towards professionals within a particular field such as education, engineering, or psychology. Articles are shorter and likely report news or summarize current research studies in a few paragraphs. Some articles may have a short list of references, but not an extensive bibliography. They are intended to help professionals in the field keep up-to-date with changes in practice. 
• Scholarly Periodicals are intended to share details of research among scholars and researchers in a field. They frequently require peer-review before publication. Articles are longer, have longer lists of references, and include charts and data about the research. 

How can you tell the difference between these three?

• If you are searching inside our library databases you may have the option to limit to Scholarly or Peer Reviewed journals. 
• In print, popular periodicals and trade periodicals tend to have glossy, color pages and advertisements while scholarly periodicals do not. 
• Newspapers and news sources are nearly always considered general or popular periodicals. 
• Scholarly journals will always have a bibliography or references, while trade or popular periodicals may not have references or will have only a short list of 3 or 4. 
• Searching for the periodical title in Google or on Wikipedia will frequently provide you information from the publisher about the type of periodical you are looking for. 

The link to a LibGuide from UC Santa Cruz provides a more detailed look between scholarly and popular journals including types of popular periodicals you may find in your searches.