Scholarly journal articles are usually written by scholars or experts in a field for other experts in that field. The purpose of a scholarly article is to make original research available to other researchers.
Scholarly articles tend to include technical vocabulary and are often refereed or peer reviewed.
A popular magazine article, on the other hand, is usually written by journalists or free-lance writers for a wide audience. The purpose of these articles is to inform, but also to entertain and to sell magazines. You are probably familiar with popular magazines, perhaps you even subscribe to a few. If you aren't familiar with scholarly journals, you should get to know the principal journals in your major and start using them in your research papers. Time, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Sports Illustrated .