Peer-Reviewed Journals

Trade publications are published by trade associations and contain information of interest to practitioners in an industry.  They contain advertisements for products and services aimed at those working in the field.  Their focus in on the current events occurring in the industry and the actions of industry leaders.

Scholarly journals are periodicals that publish original research and commentary on current developments in a specific discipline and their articles contain a bibliography and an abstract.  They may be published by commercial publishers, professional associations, or academic research institutions.  Scholarly journals can be distinguished from magazines and trade publications in that they do not contain advertisements for commercial products or services.  They may contain advertisements for items such as textbooks, calls for papers, conference announcements, or publisher contact information but their focus is research-oriented.

Peer-reviewed journals (also known as refereed serials) are scholarly journals that contain articles which are critically evaluated by experts on the subject to determine if the article falls within the scope of the publication and for purposes of determining originality and quality of research.  The author may be required to make changes before the article is accepted for publication.

Several databases allow searches to be limited to peer-reviewed articles and/or articles from trade publications.