One of the most important steps in using appropriate resources in the research process is to recognize that there is a significant difference between types of resources. This is especially true when research is done which requires looking at articles located in journals and magazines.

When doing research in higher education students are usually required by their professors to use more advanced types of publications for their term papers and other projects. Advanced "periodicals" are referred to as scholarly journals and sometimes are named peer-reviewed journals. Journals specific to an industry are referred to as trade journals. In fact, some professors will be adamant about NOT using articles from "popular" magazines.

Here is a document (PDF 13KB) which lists some guidelines to help determine whether an article is from a scholarly journal, trade journal or a popular magazine.