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The key difference between scholarly and non-scholarly publications is that scholarly publications are "peer-reviewed" by specialists to include high quality content in articles. Scholarly journals may also be called peer-reviewed journals or academic journals.
When your professor does a research project, he writes a report about the research and sends it to a scholarly journal that other specialists will be reading. The editor of the journal sends the new submission to other specialists in the field to look at. They review the new article to see if it is good enough to publish in this journal. They look at the quality of the research experiment, among other things. This "peer-review" adds another level of validation and fact-checking to the article before it reaches you and me. This does not mean that "bad" articles don't get published but it helps to have other eyes who already know the discipline look over the article first.
Scholarly journals are publications intended for subject specialists as the audience. Because they have a limited audience and because the peer-review process is time-consuming, they are often expensive. They keep costs down by using few or no pictures and rarely use color. The covers are often simple and plain. The language is technical and specialized for other professionals. The language can be difficult to understand by non-specialists. They often include original research reports with a methodology and references. They often have unstimulating titles like Journal of Biology.
Popular magazines are written for the public. Because they have such a big audience, they can make a lot of money, which makes subscription costs lower. Issues often include glossy photos and eye-catching advertisements. They may have interesting titles like National Geographic or Scientific American. Articles may be written by non-specialists who may or may not understand the subject matter well. Article topics are chosen to entertain and increase readership. Articles may cover research done but are usually reports about research publications located in scholarly journals or interviews with the researcher. The articles are understandable by the non-specialist and can therefore be a valuable method to inform non-specialists.
Trade journals are a third category that fall between popular and scholarly journals. Trade journals are written by people in an industry for other people in that industry. For example, the oil industry has publications about the news, business, products, practices of its workers, which include scientists, salespeople, and other employees. Trade journals use color pictures and advertisements. The language may be more technical since they aren't specifically interested in the public as readers. Articles usually do not include references or abstracts.
Newspapers are written for the public. A newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Articles may cover research done but are usually reports about research publications located in scholarly journals or interviews with the researcher. The articles are understandable by the non-specialist and can therefore be a valuable method to inform non-specialists. In most disciplines, newspapers are considered a popular resource.
Before you jump in to find articles on your topic in periodicals, take a moment to think about what you're looking for. This step is important for any research you'll do, whether it's for school or your own interests.
Ask yourself some questions:
Planning your search strategy can save you time in the research process. It will help you focus your search so you choose the most useful indexes or databases with which to start. It certainly beats getting right into a general electronic database, typing in topic words you haven't thought about much and sorting through the, often extensive, list of results.
Above all, don't give up if you don't find material on your subject right away! Try thinking of other words to describe your subject. You may find material on your topic listed under some of these synonyms. Check the Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes at the reference desk, or try using a thesaurus.
Even if you don't succeed with the synonyms you try, don't give up yet! Remember, each index and database has a certain coverage of periodical titles, so you may need to try a different index/database that would cover periodicals more suited for your topic.
Also remember you can ask a librarian at the reference desk to help you search for your topic; the librarians are there to help you in your research, and they have experience searching the library's many indexes and databases. A librarian may be able to help you think of more synonyms or help you use an index thesaurus to come up with subject name(s) you need. A librarian may also be able to help you use a particular index or database in other ways to locate material on your topic, or s/he may direct you to a better index or database for researching your topic.