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Selecting the Correct Source: Magazines

 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MAGAZINES

  • Audience:  General public to knowledgeable layperson
  • Coverage:  Popular topics; current affairs
  • Written By:  Professional journalists; not necessarily specialists in the field; poets and writers of fiction, essayists
  • Timeliness:  Very current coverage (one week to several months)
  • Length:  250 - 5,000 words
  • Content:  General discussion; editorial opinion; graphics; photographs; advertisements; usually no bibliography or list of sources
  • Slant:  May reflect the editorial bias / slant of the magazine

MAGAZINE EXAMPLES

  • Time
  • Life
  • Vogue
  • Vanity Fair
  • Sports Illustrated
  • Popular Science
  • Psychology Today

TRY A MAGAZINE FOR:

  • A cover story on the state of marriage in the US
  • An opinion essay on latchkey children.
  • Profiles and rankings of Fortune 500 companies with the best childcare programs and benefits.

To locate magazine articles, suggested PBCC databases:

  • Academic Search Premier
  • InfoTrac OneFile
  • Readers’ Guide Mega Edition (online version of Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature)

Don’t find a magazine?  From the database list, choose “Electronic Journals by Title/ Subject” or ask a librarian.

E-zines

  • There is a type of web page called an e-zine (electronic magazine).  These resemble magazines except no printed copies exist.  How does one tell the difference between an e-zine and a plain old web page?  Look for evidence of regular, continuous and/or periodic publication.  Is it published weekly?  Monthly?  Daily?  It may be an e-zine. Do not confuse an e-zine with an e-journal.  (See "Selecting Journals"). 

Adapted from UCLA Library website with permission statement as follows (retrieved 15 Feb. 2007):  “Permission is granted for unlimited non-commercial use of this exercise.”  See UCLA website at <http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/selectsource/index.htm>.



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