THEMATIC MAGAZINE: CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The thematic magazines are a type of academic periodical publications that are issued by an institution, corporation or by a partnership of academic or professional. In these the researchers publish news or current reports in the form of articles about their research work.

The term of thematic journal applies to any academic publication in all fields, from the scientific and quantitative social sciences to the humanities and qualitative social sciences.

Characteristics of thematic magazines

Content

In their content, thematic journals usually consist of articles that present original research, as well as reviews of previous work. The theoretical discussions and articles are published as critical reviews of already published works such as some books.

Publication frequency

The frequency of publication of these can be annual, semi-annual, or quarterly. Academic or professional publications that do not go through a review process are called professional journals.

Introduction of new jobs

Academic journals serve as a forum for researchers for the introduction and presentation of new research papers in order to receive scrutiny and for criticism of existing research.

Its main purpose is to spread knowledge of the latest research and discoveries and not to profit from them.

Most of the time, highly specific knowledge is a source for students and an expert audience in general. Academic article contributors publish their work to establish or enhance their reputation and professional ranking.

Validate and disseminate knowledge

Academic journals are important since they contribute enormously to the validation and at the same time to the dissemination of cutting-edge knowledge. Theories change over time as new sets of knowledge continue to be discovered by researchers.

Some well-founded theories may even be dismantled in the future with new discoveries that test alternative explanations for particular phenomena.

Learning is considered as a process that has no end and this is something that is constantly tested by thematic magazines.

Through these, researchers and other experts together try to find answers to the endless questions that man asks about the Earth and all the processes that are carried out or have been carried out.

Types of thematic magazines

There are several types of articles that are published in thematic journals that depend on the field in which they have been developed and the specific type of publication to which they are directed.

Letters or communications

These are short descriptions of the latest studies or research findings that are usually considered urgent for immediate publication.

Examples of these are important findings related to cures or treatments for once incurable conditions.

Research Notes

These are short descriptions that are considered less urgent than letters. These contain information on the current findings by an expert or researcher at work.

• Articles: These are usually publications of 5 to 20 pages and represent a complete description of the findings of current original research.
• Supplementary Articles: These consist mainly of tabulated data detailing all the results of an ongoing investigation.
• Review Articles: Review articles, unlike the previous types, do not cover original work by themselves. These, on the contrary, accumulate the results of multiple articles in a particular field or topic, in a coherent narrative about the state of the art in that field. These provide information about the subject and at the same time provide valid article references in relation to the original research.

Review

The peer review process is one of the cornerstones of academic publications and is a way to ensure that the information in any publication is verifiable and of good quality.

The basis of this process is that any research article is sent to a group of experts in the field and they evaluate its quality, precision and innovation.

Nowadays there is a lot of information available on the internet of dubious quality and that is why it is vital to make sure that the sources cited in any investigation come from recognized thematic magazines.

Each journal has a unique application protocol, but in general they all have the same basic structure:

1. The editor is in charge of reviewing all submissions, and they generally have some expertise in the field they are evaluating. Your job is to filter out very low-quality work to prevent the review process from clumping together with substandard options.
2. Articles that pass this stage are sent to referees for a second approval, which can generally be two in number. They approve, reject or send the articles back to the editor with certain recommendations for their improvement. The vast majority of articles will require some degree of modification before they can be published.
3. The editor will return the article to its author together with the comments for correction. Usually when the author resubmits his article, the editor will make the final decision himself without having to consult with the referees again. In general, the editor is the one who has the last word and the experts are only there as consultation figures.

All the processes described here are independent and the arbitrators do not have the ability to consult with each other or be aware of their identities in order to ensure impartiality. If both experts do not reach an agreement, the final decision will be that of the editor or that of a third judge who can decide the opinions.

Authors also do not have the ability to know the identity of the reviewers and many journals make the authors remain anonymous as well.

However, this method is difficult to apply as the specific area of ​​knowledge is a key clue, especially in small fields where researchers are aware of the work of others.

References

1. Murray, Rowena. The Guardian. Writing for an academic journal: 10 tips. September 3, 2013. theguardian.com.
2. Rider University. Types of Articles found in Scholarly Journals. guides.rider.edu.
3. Majumder, Kakoli. Editage. 6 Article types that journals publish: A guide for early career researchers. February 20, 2015. editage.com.
4. Wiley Author Services. The Peer Review Process. authorservices.wiley.com.