Popular health-related magazines typically publish articles that have been peer reviewed

Research journals publish research articles, the primary sources for experimental, scientific, and medical information. They may also publish news, editorials, preliminary scientific work, reviews of books, equipment, or other resources, professional conference information, and articles related to the profession, such as employment or continuing education.

Research articles are articles that describe research studies, almost always written by the researchers who did the work (making the article a "primary" source, as well.) Research articles include classic experimental work, data analysis, program or research assessment, clinical trials (of drugs, procedures, or equipment), setup and/or results of preliminary or pilot projects, case studies, and more. See more about Recognizing and Reading Research Articles on the next tab.

Articles may also be "peer reviewed" or "refereed". This means that the article has been reviewed by one or more other researchers in the same field and approved for publication. Journals that publish peer reviewed articles are often referred to as peer reviewed journals, but every article in them may not be peer reviewed. In the most health journals, only the research articles in a peer reviewed journal will actually be peer reviewed.

"Review" articles are a completely different type of article. A review article is an extensive and comprehensive summary of the research on a particular, often very specific, topic: for instance, the treatment options for a particular condition. They are not research articles, but they cover all the research related to the topic. Review articles can give you a head start on doing library research on a topic, since most of the significant research will be covered--up to the time of writing. Since articles can take 1-2 years to be published, searching for more recent research should include articles 2 years back from the publication date of the research article. (For a more accurate date, check the references for the most recent publication cited.)

Subject related library databases are usually the best source for research articles--some databases, such as CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo, also have ways of specifying research or types of research studies (usually in the Advanced Search--look for check boxes for Research or Document/Publication Type lists that include different types of research such as clinical trials, meta-analysis, or case studies. Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search are the web equivalents of library databases. Use the Library's journal finder to find full text of the results. Also use the journal finder to track down articles in reference or works cited lists.

Annie Yu-An Chen, DDS, MS, Assistant Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation, discusses a new study that examined cyclical changes in American diet quality related to macroeconomic conditions. She and co-author Roland Sturm, PhD, Senior Economist at RAND Corporation, found that the American diet improved when unemployment peaked after the Great Recession, and then declined significantly. This was particularly true in 2011and 2012, a period with historically high unemployment rates in the United States. However, since recovery began in 2013, the quality of the American diet has declined and is now at a 20-year low.
Duration:6:12 min

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Characteristics of Top-Circulating Women's and Men's Magazines, 2006-2007