Academic and Popular Journals
Contents
Academic versus popular journals
The difference between academic and popular journals
Searching databases for academic articles
Academic writing and referencingAcademic versus popular journals
When you select articles from an online search you need to make a distinction between scholarly and popular material. Scholarly or academic journals are usually published by a university or institution and contain research or specific information. Popular magazines are usually commercial, written for a general audience and contain current news. They can include secondary commentaries on research.
Academic |
Popular |
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What are the differences between academic and popular publications?
Academic |
Popular |
Trade |
| Authors: experts or noted professionals. Check author’s background or qualifications. Authors are most often clearly affiliated with an academic or research institution and an address is provided for readers to contact the author at his or her institution or academic department. | Authors: journalists, students, or anonymous. Credentials often not supplied. | Authors: people in the industry and professional writers |
| Audience: articles targeted to experts or specialists. | Audience: general interest | Audience: people in a particular industry |
| Bibliography: a list of references is included at the end of each article | Bibliography: articles rarely include references | Bibliography:articles rarely include references |
| Content: more specialized, research based - often communicate research findings in a given field. | Content: often report opinion in a story format; focus on current events & topics of general interest, and include a variety of advertisements for consumer products. | Content: may reflect the industry's point of view, particularly on regulatory and legislative issues; often published by trade associations or by for-profit corporations |
| Format/Structure: articles usually more structured, may include: abstract, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion. | Format/Structure: articles do not necessarily follow a specific format or structure | Format/Structure: articles do not necessarily follow a specific format or structure |
| Language: higher level language, focused, serious tone, words used are specific to a discipline, written by experts | Language: broad and simple language, written to be understood by almost anyone. | Language: broad and simple language, written to be understood by almost anyone. May include jargon specific to the industry. |
| Length: longer articles, providing in-depth analysis of topics | Length: shorter articles, providing broader overviews of topics | Length: shorter articles |
| Peer Review Policy: articles are reviewed for detailed factual & research accuracy before publication by peer or experts in the field. Editorial board is composed of scholars in the field. | Peer Review Policy: editor or editorial board are members of the magazine's or newspaper's staff. | Peer Review Policy: editor or editorial board are members of the magazine's staff. |
| Special Features: illustrations that support the text, such as tables of statistics, graphs, maps, or photographs | Special Features: illustrations with glossy or colour photographs, usually for advertising purposes | Special Features: illustrations with glossy or colour photographs, usually for advertising purposes |
Searching the Business and Economics databases for academic or scholarly articles
International databases
Databases that index international business periodicals, both academic and scholarly, include:
1. ProQuest databases (PQD)
- ABI/Inform
- ProQuest Research Library
- Accounting & Tax
- Banking Information Database
- ProQuest Asian Business Database
- ProQuest Computing
- ProQuest European Business
To find scholarly or academic articles in the ProQuest (PQD) databases type in your search term(s) and select 'Peer-reviewed journals' in the Limit to section. Most scholarly journals will be peer reviewed and most peer reviewed journals will be published for an academic audience.
2. Ebscohost
To find scholarly or academic articles in the EBSCO databases, including Business Source Premier, type in your search term(s) and select the limit “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) journals”.
3. Other international Business and Economics databases
- Emerald Insight
All journals are peer reviewed and are aimed at both academic researchers and practitioners. You do not have to limit your search to scholarly or peer reviewed. - ScienceDirectAll journals are peer reviewed and are aimed at both academic researchers and practitioners. You do not have to limit your search to scholarly or peer reviewed.
- For other databases use the table above outlining the differences between academic and popular as a guideline.
- Always check out the limits in a database as there may be some options there to focus your search.
New Zealand databases
Databases that cover New Zealand business magazines and newspapers include:
- Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre
Ebscohost database which provides the full text of many New Zealand business magazines and newspapers. - Newztext Plus
Covers the full text of a range of NZ business publications - Newzindex
An index to NZ busines magazines and newspapers - Index New Zealand: INNZ
A multidisciplinary database indexing both popular and academic material.
To find scholarly or academic articles in Index New Zealand (INNZ):
- Go to the Advanced Search option in Indez New Zealand
- Type in your search term(s) in the first search box
- Under Material Type select Research Articles
