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FM 1330: Introduction to Fashion Merchandising

A library research course guide for students in Introduction to Fashion Merchandising

Types of Periodicals

What's a periodical?

A periodical is a magazine, journal, newspaper, or similar item that comes out periodically, i.e. once a week, month, etc.

It's good to be able to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly periodicals, especially for more advanced research. 

Cover of Fashion Street Magazine AW 2017 by FashionStreet.hu is licensed Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Magazines

  • Intended for mass market and general public
  • Includes Magazines, trade journals, newspapers and other non-scholarly sources
  • No "Peer Review" process required for publication
  • Often presents general information
  • Almost never has a list of references, notes, or a bibliography

Scholarly Journals

  • Scholarly journals are also referred to as "Peer Reviewed" or "Refereed."
  • These are mostly journals (but can be in other formats)
  • Are intended for scholars in their intended fields.
  • Articles must be reviewed by panel of experts before publishing (aka "Peer Review")
  • Often present original research
  • Almost always has a list of references, notes, or a bibliography

Is this Journal or Article Peer-Reviewed?

If you have a journal or article and you need to check if it is peer reviewed, use the Ulrich's Periodical Directory database.

  • Enter the name of the journal that the article was published in the search bar.
  • Look for the referee jersey icon or the line that says "Refereed: Yes."

peer reviewed

  • The term refereed is just another way of saying peer reviewed, so if you see either or both of those things, your journal is peer reviewed.
  • If you don't see the icon or if the description of the journal says "Refereed: No," that journal is not peer reviewed.

Understanding a Journal Citation

You'll see something like this:

It's important to know the parts of a citation so you can interpret it correctly. You must have at least the Journal name, volume, issue, and page number to be able to locate the article.