Journal or Magazine? Here’s How To Tell…
	Scholarly Journal	General Nursing Magazines a.k.a.Trade Publication	Popular Magazine
Appearance	Articles are research oriented. Few Pictures. Illustrations take the form of charts and graphs. Few Ads	Articles are news oriented; cover trends in the field, etc. Some illustrations are included, usually charts, graphs, etc. Trade specific ads.	Articles are meant to inform and entertain. Illustrations are numerous and colorful. Lots of advertising.
Audience	Written for experts, researchers, other scholars	Written for professionals within the field or industry (education, business, etc.)	Written for a popular/general audience, or in some cases, an educated layperson
Authors	Scholars and researchers. Authors’ credentials are included	Staff writers or contributing authors. Some articles may be anonymous.	Journalists, staff writers, or contributing authors. Some articles may not be credited.
Bibliography	Authors cite their sources in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies. Often includes an abstract.	Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally cite them in bibliographies.	Articles almost never have bibliographies.
Accountability	Articles are peer-reviewed	No peer-review process	No peer-review process
Frequency of Publication	Often monthly or even quarterly (every three months).	Usually monthly, although some business newspapers may come out weekly	Often monthly or even weekly (like Time and Newsweek magazines)
Examples	Journal of Nursing Education; Nursing Research; WJNR (Western Journal of Nursing Research)	Adweek; Advertising Age; Chemical and Engineering News; Nursing; RN; Successful Farming	Better Homes and Gardens; Newsweek; Rolling Stone; Time