A periodical is anything that comes out with regular issues. A daily newspaper, a weekly news magazine, a monthly journal, and an annual book series are all examples of periodicals.
Some periodicals are published in ways that make them more valuable to scholars. Periodicals that are "scholarly", "refereed", or "peer-reviewed" all have articles that are reviewed by experts in the subject. For other types of periodicals, the articles may be reviewed by a professional editor who is not an expert in the subject.
To find periodical articles, click on the down arrow next to "Search everything at SCSU" on the library home page and select "Articles and e-books". Enter your search in the box provided and click on the search icon. You will be able to modify your search by using the limiters on the left panel of your search results page.
Alternatively, you can search a database (or databases) to find articles on your topic/subject. Here are some useful databases that provide information on various topics:
Academic Search Premier
CQ Researcher
Main File
Newspaper Source Plus
Opposing Viewpoints
Topic Search
Types of Periodicals
|
|
Scholarly & Research Journals |
Professional, Trade & Industry Journals |
Journals of Commentary & Opinion |
Newspapers |
Popular Magazines |
|
Examples |
American Historical Review Bioscience New England Journal of Medicine Social Psychology Quarterly |
RN Library Journal Science Teacher Restaurants and Institutions |
Mother Jones National Review Atlantic New Republic |
New York Times Christian Science Monitor Wall Street Journal |
Time Newsweek Sports Illustrated Reader's Digest |
|
Values & Uses |
Reports of original research; In depth analysis of issues related to the discipline; Lengthy articles. Academic level book reviews; Refereed or peer-reviewed |
Current trends, news & products in a field; Company, organization, & biographical information; Statistics, forecasts; Employment & career information; Book and product reviews |
Commentaries on social & political issues; Somein-depth analysis; Political viewpoints, liberal, conservative & other; Sometimes acts as voice of activist organization; Speeches & interviews; Book reviews |
Current information; News stories; Local and regional focus; Classified ads; Editorials; Speeches; some book reviews; Primary source for information on events |
Current events; Hot topics;Primary source for analysis of popular culture; Short articles; Generally not much depth; Interviews; some book reviews |
|
Language |
Academic; Can be very technical; Uses the language of the discipline |
Written for practitioners; Can use jargon extensively |
Written for a general educated audience |
Written for a general educated audience |
Non-technical, often simple language |
|
Authors |
Researchers, academics, scholars, etc. |
Practitioners in the field or journalists with subject expertise |
Extremely variable; Can be academics, journalists, representatives of various “groups” |
Journalists |
Generally, journalists and freelance writers |
|
Sources |
Footnotes and bibliographies, Often very extensive documentation |
Occasional brief bibliographies; Sources sometimes cited in text |
Occasionally cite sources in text orprovide short bibliographies |
Rarely cite any sources in full |
Rarely cite any sources |
|
Publisher |
Universities, scholarly presses or academic and research or professional organizations |
Commercial publishers or professional and trade associations |
Commercial publishers or non-profit organizations |
Commercial publishers |
Commercial publishers |
|
Graphics |
Graphs, charts, formulas, depending on the discipline; Do not contain glossy ads |
Photographs, charts, tables, illustrations of all sorts;ads related to the profession |
Varies a lot; Some very plain, some have graphics, colors and ads |
Pictures, charts, ads of all sorts |
Glitzy, many graphics and pictures; full of color ads |
Gradowski, Gail, Loanne Snavely, and Paula Dempsey. Designs for Active Learning: A Sourcebook of Classroom
Strategies for Information Education. Chicago (Ill.): Association of College & Research Libraries, 1998. Print.