What makes a journal an academic journal?

Purpose To communicate the results of recent research in the field of study covered by the journal. Academic articles reflect a systematic and exhaustive study of a single topic, often including experiments or surveys. Academic journals may also occasionally publish review articles that summarize the current state of knowledge on a topic. There is no clear definition of what an academic journal is, but here are some clues that may help you distinguish it from popular magazines.

An academic journal cannot be defined by one or two characteristics, nor do all characteristics have to be present for it to be a professional journal. Note that there are exceptions for each of the features listed. You can't tell if a publication is an academic journal simply by looking at the name. There are many examples where a periodical publication has the word magazine in its title, but it's not really an academic journal.

The Wall Street Journal and the Ladies Home Journal are examples of this. Writing style Articles in academic journals are often exhaustive and contain advanced vocabulary, as authors use the technical language or jargon of their field of study. Appearance Academic journals lack the advertising, colorful graphics, and photographs found in popular magazines. Validity and reliability Articles submitted to academic journals are evaluated by an editorial board and other experts before being accepted for publication publication.

Increasingly, academic publications are available on the open web, as well as in library databases (and, of course, in print). Professional publications or trade journals These periodical publications cover a specific profession or field of interest and report on the news, trends and news of a profession, profession or industry. If you're looking for academic or peer-reviewed articles in a database, you may be able to limit your results to academic or peer-reviewed journal articles. For an introduction to the different ways to search for journal articles, see How to find articles of magazines.

This evaluation, often referred to as peer review, is designed to ensure that published articles are based on solid research that meets the normal standards of the field of study covered by the journal. A multidisciplinary database that provides full-text articles for more than 6,600 academic journals and journals, including the full text of nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed titles. The most respected academic journals are often those sponsored by professional associations; for example, the American Psychological Association and the American Society of Chemistry.