Health Studies Introduction: Professional Magazines and Academic Journals

Professional  magazines:

• are targeted to health care professionals
• contain articles written by working professionals
• may contain advertising and other content apart from articles
• usually do not present original research
• usually are not peer-reviewed

Below are some examples of professional magazines available online at UC Library.  Follow the database link(s) to search any of these publications:

Look for these elements in the article:

• Background
• Objective
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions

Academic research articles will almost always include sections with these headings.  If you see them, you know you're reading a research article.

These phrases are often used when describing academic journals:

• scholarly
• academic
• peer-reviewed?: yes*

These phrases are often used for professional magazines:

• professional
• trade
• peer-reviewed?: no*

If you found your article in a print publication, check the front pages for a list of names titled Editorial Board.  If a journal has an Editorial Board, it is peer-reviewed (also called refereed), and therefore very likely an academic journal. 

*Note that some professional magazines MAY be peer-reviewed, but most are not.

Academic research  journals:

• are targeted to academic audiences
• contain articles written by researchers
• include articles reporting original research
• usually don't contain many advertisements
• are considered "scholarly"
• are almost always refereed or peer-reviewed

Below are some examples of academic research journals available at UC Library.  Follow the database link(s) to search any of these journals.