This kind of literature is also referred to as authoritative or peer reviewed . Authoritative refers to the fact that the author is an expert, or authority, in his or her field. Peer reviewed describes a process in which the articles are read and critiqued by a jury of the author's peers, experts in the field, before they are accepted for publication. Magazines , on the other hand, contain mostly secondary literature , articles written by reporters who had nothing to do with the research. Some magazines do publish articles by scholars but these articles are not subject to strict review by an expert committee.
Journals even look different than magazines.