Backward Citation Tracking: Looking at an article's works cited list provides a snapshot of the research that was available at the time of publication and will provide you with a wealth of related sources.
Forward Citation Tracking: Looking to see if a source has been cited by others will help you determine its importance and will identify other, more current sources. Look for "times cited" or "cited by" in tools such as ABI Inform, Search@UW and Google Scholar.
Check out the Library's Citation Guide for help citing sources correctly.
Criteria | Scholarly Journals | Popular Magazines |
|---|---|---|
| Example |
 |
 |
| Author | Usually a scholar or researcher with expertise in the subject area; Author's credentials and/or affiliation are given. | Author's name may or may not be given; often a professional writer; may or may not have expertise in the subject area. |
| Audience | Other scholars, researchers, and students. | General public; the interested non-specialist. |
| Language | Specialized terminology or jargon of the field; requires expertise in subject area (or a good specialized dictionary!). | Vocabulary in general usage; easily understandable to most readers. |
| Graphics | Graphs, charts, and tables; very few advertisements and photographs. | Graphs, charts and tables; lots of glossy advertisements and photographs. |
|
Layout & |
Structured; generally includes the article abstract, objectives, methodology, analysis, results (evidence), discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. | Informal; may include non-standard formatting. May not present supporting evidence or a conclusion. |
| Accountability | Articles are evaluated by peer-reviewers or referees who are experts in the field; edited for content, format, and style. | Articles are evaluated by editorial staff, not experts in the field; edited for format and style. |
| References | Always has a list of references or bibliography; sources of quotes and facts are cited and can be verified. | Rarely has a list of references; usually does not give complete information about sources of information. |
| Examples | Annals of Mathematics, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, History of Education Quarterly, almost anything with Journal in the title. |
Time, Newsweek, The Nation, The Economist |
Another type of publication is called a Trade Publication (also referred to as professional or practitioner publications).
These are directed towards a specific industry or profession. At first glance, trade publications can look like popular magazines because they are glossy and contain many images, but the actual content is different from popular magazines in its scope, specificity and perspective.
Example: Advertising Age
Adapted from a LibGuide by Beth Rohloff at Tufts University's Tisch Library.
