"Scholarly Journal" and "Academic Journal" are two words for the same thing. Scholarly journals publish articles—usually articles about research—written by experts (scholars) in the field of study.
The term “academic journals” is broad and includes both peer-reviewed journals and journals that are not peer-reviewed but are intended for an academic audience. Academic journals serve as a platform for sharing research, analysis, and scholarly discourse within specific fields of study.
Scholarly journals are publications that present peer-reviewed, scholarly research articles written by researchers and academics. These journals often focus on a specific academic discipline, ensuring the spreading of valid, credible knowledge within the scholarly community. Articles in scholarly journals typically include footnotes and bibliographies, and their intended audience is comprised of some kind of research community.
Peer-reviewed journals (also sometimes called refereed journals) are a subset of scholarly journals. Content in peer-reviewed journals meets the criteria for scholarly journals, but it has also undergone a process of feedback and iteration before publication. In other words, articles in peer-reviewed journals are written by experts or scholars in the field and have been rigorously reviewed by other experts in the same field before being accepted for publication.
Usually, articles in these publications go through a "peer-review" process, which means other experts (peers) on the topic of the article weigh in on the quality of the article and the research it presents as well as the article's importance in their field of study. Many professors will require you to use scholarly sources because they are more credible than articles published in popular magazines or on most websites.
If you’re looking for scholarly information, exploring the Daytona State College Library's Databases can be a great starting point
There are two major types of periodicals that you will encounter when doing library research - scholarly journals and popular magazines. While both kinds of periodicals may have information about the same topic, the presentation, depth and type of information will be different. Most research papers will require the use of at least some articles from scholarly or peer reviewed journals. The following table summarizes the main differences between scholarly journals and popular magazines.
| Scholarly Journals | Popular Magazines | |
|---|---|---|
| Audience/ Language | Articles in scholarly journals are written for professionals in a particular field. The language of the articles will often contain jargon related to that field. | Articles are written for a general audience, are free of technical jargon and easy to understand. |
| Author | Authors are usually experts in a given field. The credentials and institutional affiliation of the authors are listed with each article. | Articles are written by professional journalists who may or may not have special knowledge of the topic. The author's name may not be listed. |
| Editorial Information | Edited by an editorial board consisting of experts in the field. The names, institutional affiliations and credentials of the editorial board are listed in the front of each issue. | Edited by journalists who may or may not have specialized knowledge of the topics of articles. Full editorial information is usually not provided, often just the name of the Editor in Chief or a few main editors. |
| Editorial Process | Articles are subjected to some form of peer review by outside experts in the topic covered by the article before being accepted for publication. Articles may be returned to the authors for revision before being accepted. | Articles are not reviewed by subject specialists. |
| Format | Research articles, especially in science and health science journals, may contain the following sections: abstract, literature review, methodology, results and conclusion. | Articles do not have a specific format or structure. |
| References | Articles will contain a bibliography of works cited and/ or footnotes documenting the research. | Articles do not contain a bibliography or footnotes. |
| Examples | Journal of the American Medical Association, American Literature, Journal of Educational Research | Time, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Forbes |
Always remember that just because a journal has the word "journal" in the title, does not mean that it's a scholarly journal. On the other hand, many scholarly journal titles do not contain the word "journal". For example, the Wall Street Journal is a financial newspaper, not a scholarly journal, and American Literature is a peer reviewed scholarly journal.
In addition, not every article in a peer reviewed publication undergoes review. There may be editorials, letters to the editor, and book reviews in scholarly journals that are not refereed. It is important to evaluate each article to determine if it is acceptable for your needs. If you're not sure of the type of a particular article ask a DSC librarian for assistance.