Periodicals/Serials/Journals/Magazines:  A Brief Guide

Serials and Periodicals are terms that are similar in meaning. They are produced serially (one after the other) or periodically (weekly, monthly, etc.).  They are not books published once on a single subject.

When would I look for information in a journal/magazine article instead of book?
   When your topic is very recent
    When your topic is very focused and specific
    When you want to get different points of view on a topic
    When you don't have time to read a book length work on a topic

Types of Periodicals

Journals
    Scholarly:  Characterized by presence of abstract to article, lengthy bibliographies/reference to works used by author, charts and graphs, little or no advertisements.  Example:  Journal of American History.
    Trade/Professional:  Characterized by articles about professional practice or the application of theory to practice, brief bibliographies or none, some advertisements or illustrations.

Magazines:  Characterized by presence of illustrations, advertisements and absence of bibliographies or references.  Authors (if named) are usually staff writers.  Articles are written for a general audience and cover topics more briefly and in less depth than a journal.  Some magazines may have a particular editorial perspective which may slant the content of the magazine.

Newsletters:  Characterized by brevity, newsletters are generally directed at a readership that is part of an organization or other organized group.  Content and bias vary with the organization sponsoring the newsletter.

Newspapers:  Characterized by short articles on current events and issues.  Often a primary source for historical topics, newspapers are also a source of current information.  Content and bias vary with the editorial perspective of the individual newspaper.  The New York Times has been considered the newspaper of record for national U.S. news.