The periodical literature is published on a regular (or periodic) basis and includes publications such as newspapers, magazines, and journals.  This literature has been used for centuries to communicate new information about events, popular thought, and scholarship.  

In this guide, we'll talk about different types of periodicals, their purpose, and the kind of information you can expect to get from them.  

There are 4 types of periodicals: 

Why do I need to know about different types of periodicals?

Different types of periodicals are suited for different purposes. Knowing what kind of periodicals you need can help you search more effectively! 

Here are a few examples of different information needs you might have, and what periodical types would be best for each need.

  1. Let's say you're looking for information about a current controversy being discussed by people in your future career field. Trade journals are probably your best bet, because they are specific to your field. Scholarly journal articles often go through a long, rigorous review process. As a result, they may not be as current enough to have information about that controversy. 
     
  2. Let's say you're looking for information about the best ways to manage students as a teacher. Scholarly journal articles would likely be best, because the authors usually spend considerable time researching and testing different methods.
     
  3. Let's say you're looking for information about a musician who has recently become popular. You're most likely to find information about that performer in popular magazines (possibly trade magazines, too). 
     
  4. Let's say you want to cite a source by hand, or using a citation generator. The type of publication a source is will change how you cite it.

Publications vs Periodicals

You may hear the terms "publications" and "periodicals" frequently. Publications include anything that is published. This may include books, journals, newspapers, websites, and other materials. Periodicals are a group of publications, including items that come out after specific intervals. Magazines are published monthly, journals can be published monthly, seasonally, or yearly, and newspapers can be published weekly or monthly. These are all periodicals.

 

A circle titled "periodicals" is inside a circle called "publications". Publications are anything that is published. Periodicals are publications, specifically with new editions published at specific intervals.