The publishers of scholarly journals are usually different from those publishing popular magazines. They're in the business of sharing knowledge.
Clues for Recognizing Scholarly Publishers
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The names of major scholarly journal publishers are well known to researchers. When you see a journal published by one of these, you can assume it is scholarly. Examples:
- Elsevier / Science Direct
- Routledge, Taylor & Francis
- Chadwyck-Healy
- Blackwell
- Emerald
- Wiley
- Springer
- SAGE Journals
- A University press is generally scholarly. Examples:
- Oxford University Press
- Duke University Press
- Cambridge University Press
- University of California Press
- University of Toronto Press
- Some scholarly organizations publish journals, and their journals are scholarly and usually well-respected in the subject area. Examples:
- APA (American Psychological Association)
- American Anthropological Association
- Institute of Physics
- National Research Council of Canada
- Royal Society of Chemistry
If you aren't sure who publishes a hard-copy journal, look at the first few pages for this information. If it's an online journal, look at the name of the website it comes from, or find a link to "About the journal".
Next: Peer-Review.