The document provides information to distinguish between trade journals and peer-reviewed journals for students in business and management programs. It explains that trade journals focus on a specific industry or occupation, may be published by professional organizations, and contain news, strategies and contemporary issues of interest to that industry or profession. Peer-reviewed journals contain articles written by university faculty that are reviewed by other experts before publication, include abstracts, citations, and focus on academic research rather than practical industry information. It provides examples of searching databases to specifically locate either type of source.

1. Trade versus Peer-reviewed
Information for Students in HRD & Other
Business/Management Programs

2. Trade Journals
 Aimed at individuals in a specific occupation or
industry
 Often look like popular press, but focus on work
 Sometimes published by a professional organization
 Article content focuses on
 Industry or professional news
 Tips, methods, strategies
 Contemporary issues and concerns of interest to the industry
 Lists of resources or “further reading” (if used) are more likely
than formal bibliographies.
Typical trade journals:
HRMagazine
T+D

3. A quick look at a trade journal article
Training Journal,
October 2012,
pages 55-59.
Retrieved from
ABI/Inform
Complete.

4. Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
 The article title is descriptive, for example, “The role of
individual and organizational characteristics in feedback
seeking behaviour in the initial career stage”.
 The authors are almost always university or college
faculty.
 The article begins with an "abstract“ – a brief summary.
 The article is typically at least several pages in length.
 Many articles have sections labeled with subheadings.
 Sources used by the authors are documented, either
through in-text citations or through notes. References
are formatted in a consistent style and listed at the end of
the article.
A sample peer-reviewed journal:
Human Resource Development International

5. A quick look at a peer-reviewed journal article
Journal of European Industrial
Training, 35(9), pages 874-891,
2011. Retrieved from ABI/Inform
Complete.

6. The Peer-Review Process
 When a professor submits a draft of an article to a
journal, it is "peer-reviewed" before it is accepted for
publication.
 The editor of the journal sends the draft to other
professors (who have expertise in the subject) for
comment and review. The reviewers may recommend
 Publication as an article in the journal - OR –
 Rejection of the draft - send it back to the author - OR –
 Contact the author and ask for changes before publication.
 In most cases, the process of peer review is "blind". The
author does not know who is reviewing her work, and the
reviewers do not know the identity of the author. Ideally,
blind review ensures that the critique will be fair and
unbiased.

7. Searching for Different Types of Articles
ABI/Inform and
Business Source Elite
allow you to limit to
Trade pubs.
ABI/Inform,
Business Source
Elite, ERIC, and
PsycInfo all have
ways to limit to
scholarly or peer-
reviewed journals.

8. ABI/Inform Complete
Easy to
find peer
reviewed
!
But wait!
If you
need
trade
journals,
don’t
check
the box!

9. ABI/Inform Complete Results
Click here for
Trade journals

10. ABI/Inform Complete – Trade/Date
Slide bar
for date

11. ABI/Inform – Trade – Full Text

12. ABI/Inform – Trade Citation/Abstract
Full text and
other options
(including
ILLIAD)

13. ABI/Inform Complete - Peer-reviewed/Date
To clear all
limits and make
new choices

14. ABI/Inform – Peer-reviewed – Full Text
•Article title is
descriptive
•Authors are
university
faculty
•Article begins
with an
abstract

15. ABI/Inform – Peer-reviewed (continued)
•Documentatio
n of sources
through in-text
citations.
Some journals
may use notes
instead of in-
text citations.
•Subheadings
are often used
to organize the
content.

16. ABI/Inform – Peer-reviewed (continued)
•Journal
articles
include a list
of
references.

17. Business Source Elite
Peer-reviewed check box

18. Business Source Elite – Trade journals
Trade

19. Can’t I just Google (or Bing . . .)?
 You can, but there is no fool-proof method for limiting
your search. You’ll have to do some sifting to
identify the type of source you need - popular, trade,
or scholarly.
 TIP: Your required course readings or your
professor may help you identify some experts,
publication names, or organizations in a topic area of
interest – just to get you started.
 Experts often list what they’ve published online.
 A list of professional organizations is provided on the
library guide for HRD, under the tab, Staying
Current.
 (And you can use these suggestions in the library’s
electronic resources as well as in search engines.)

20. Caution!
 Search engines such as Google utilize algorithms that
influence your search results in ways you may not want.
Marketers use what is known about these search
algorithms to push their product to the top of search
result lists.
 Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) is useful for
retrieving peer-reviewed journal articles, but even if you
click the “articles” box, you still retrieve hits from Google
Books.
 You may encounter web sites asking you to pay $$$$ for
articles. Don’t do it! As long as you are a currently
registered Nazareth College student, interlibrary loan and
document delivery services are available to you without
charge. Go to the library’s home page and click on
interlibrary loan to find out more and to register for
ILLIAD.

21. Thanks for watching!
Questions?
Need help with research?
Ask a Librarian!
http://answers.naz.edu
Jennifer Burr, MLS, MA
Instruction Librarian
Nazareth College