Periodicals are an important research tool. While books are valuable, periodicals provide information on what is most current in a subject area. Books usually have material that is one or more years old or discuss the basics of a subject area. Articles in periodicals are often written about research that is in progress or is recently completed. Magazines are written in very simple language and often are written by a professional writer rather than the person who has done the research work.
Many magazines write about the news or other subjects of interest to many people.
For many research topics, magazines do not provide enough information needed for a complete report. Journals are periodicals that are written by researchers for other persons who are interested in a particular topic. When trying to tell the difference between a magazine and a journal use all the above reasons when making a decision. Most periodicals in research libraries are considered journals. For more information on how to tell the difference, click here.