What is a trade journal, and how do I find it?
Answer
A trade journal or industry journal is a periodical published with the intention of marketing ideas, products, or services to a specific industry or type of trade/business. Collectively, these types of journals are referred to as the trade press. The peer-review process is not used in the process of presenting content to readers. Rather, the editorial staff is responsible for the accuracy of content. Trade and industry journals typically contain advertising content targeted on the industry in question with little if any general audience advertising. Examples include Beverage World (for the food service industry) and Billboard (for the music industry).
How do I find a trade journal article?
In many of the library's databases, there's an easy way to find trade journal articles. If you're using Academic Search Complete, or any of our EBSCO branded databases, in the Advanced Search mode, there's a way to find trade journal articles. Under the search boxes, scroll to the "Publication Type" pull-down menu. On this menu, choose "Trade Publications" and then scroll back up to the top and run your Advanced Search with your search terms.
There's another way to find trade journal articles. On the Advanced Search page, run a search by typing your search terms into the search box. Click Search. Your results list will appear. On the top of the page, under the pull-down menu "Source Type" click the check box that shows "Trade Publications." (You may have to scroll down a bit). After choosing this option, re-run your search in Academic Search Complete by clicking "Apply." This should limit your search results to just the articles that are published in trade journals. This will eliminate peer-reviewed, news and magazine articles (popular sources) from your results.
