Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: Scholarly or Professional

The following is a checklist of criteria for scholarly or professional journals.

• These journals generally have a sober, serious look.  They often contain graphs and charts, but few glossy pages or exciting picture.
• Scholary sources always cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies; professional journals frequently do the same.
• Articles are written by a scholar or professional in the field or by someone who has done research in the field.
• The language is that of the discipline or profession involved.  It assumes some scholarly background on the part of the reader.

The main purpose of a scholarly or professional journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world.  Many scholarly journals, though by no means all, are published by professional organizations.

Used with the permission of:

Research & Learning Services
Olin Library
Cornell University Library
Ithica, NY, USA