What's a journal? What's a magazine?

Journals

1. Journals focus their content, gearing it toward a specific, often expert, audience of readers.
For example, these: Journal of the American Medical Association, The Draft Horse Journal, American Nurseryman, HortScience, College Teaching and The Explicator are all usually considered journals.
2. The articles are written by authors with knowledge of and training in the field or discipline that is discussed (credentials, such as graduate degrees).
3. The articles often show the results of research studies, experiments, or in-depth study of the literature of a subject.
4. The articles are set up (formatted) in a specific way and are usually not illustrated, although they may include diagrams, equations, or tables.
5. The sources that the authors use to support their work are almost always cited or listed.
6. Journals may be refereed. This means that a committee or group of people who work and write in the specific field have judged the articles to be worth publishing.
7. Journals often have "journal" or "review" in their titles (i.e., The Journal of Education, James Joyce Review, Water Resources Journal, etc.).

Magazines

1. Magazines are intended for a broad, general audience of readers (i.e., Time, Newsweek, Utne Reader, People Weekly, Popular Science).
2. The articles are written by writers who work for the publisher and who may or may not have training in the field they discuss.
3. The articles are set up in a visually pleasing, informal style. They are often illustrated.
4. The editor and publisher are the only people who judge the articles before they are printed.