Scholarly journals are also referred to as "Peer Reviewed" or "Refereed." These are journals that feature articles that have been reviewed and selected by other scholars in order to be published.
Characteristics of Scholarly Journals
- Scholarly journals generally have a somber, serious look.
- Scholarly journals contain graphs and charts, but not typically glossy pages or color photographs.
- Scholarly journal articles always list their information sources in the form of footnotes, endnotes, or bibliographies.
- Authors of scholarly journal articles are usually subject experts, or scholars, in their fields, and their credentials are usually listed.
- Research articles written for such journals are heavily reviewed by peer experts within the discipline and revised by the author(s) before being accepted for publication.
- The language of scholarly journals is that of the discipline covered. It assumes some degree of subject knowledge on the part of the reader.
- The main purpose of a scholarly journal is to report original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world.
- Articles tend to be lengthy and very thoroughly address the topic.
- Advertisements are rare. If there are any advertisements, they are not aimed at mass market consumers, but at persons within that specific discipline.