{{Short description|Regularly scheduled published work}} {{Redirect|Periodical||Periodicity (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|First issue|the music album|Public Image: First Issue}} {{Use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ll|date=March 2025}} [[File:PLoS Biology cover April 2009.svg|thumb|The cover of an issue of the open-access journal ''PLOS Biology'', published monthly by the Public Library of Science]]
'''Periodical literature''' (singularly called a '''periodical publication''' or simply a '''periodical''') consists of published works that appear in new releases on a regular schedule (''issues'' or ''numbers'', often numerically divided into annual ''volumes''). The most familiar example of periodical literature is the ''newspaper'', but the ''magazine'' and the ''journal'' are also periodicals. Some modern websites, e-journals, and other electronic-only publications produced recurrently on a schedule are also considered periodicals. Periodical publications cover a wide variety of topics, from academic, technical, and trade, to general-interest subjects such as leisure and entertainment.
Articles within a periodical are usually organized around a single main subject or theme and include a title, date of publication, author(s), and brief summary of the article. A periodical typically contains an editorial section that comments on subjects of interest to its readers. Other common features are reviews of recently published books and films, columns that express the authors' opinions about various topics, and advertisements.
A periodical is a serial publication. A book series is also a serial publication, but is not typically called a periodical. An encyclopedia or dictionary is also a book, and might be called a serial publication if it is published in many different editions over time. A periodical series, such as a journal series, is a sequence of journals having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group ({{xref|see academic journal series}}).
==Volumes and issues== {{anchor|Issue|Number|Dummy|Zero|First|Premiere|Charter|Final}} Periodicals are typically published and referenced by volume and issue (also known as issue number or number). ''Volume'' typically refers to the number of years the publication has been circulated, and ''issue'' refers to how many times that periodical has been published during that year. For example, the April 2011 publication of a monthly magazine first published in 2002 would be listed as, "volume 10, issue 4". Roman numerals are sometimes used in reference to the volume number.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Periodical |url= https://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_P.aspx?#periodical |access-date=6 August 2012 |work=ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science |publisher=ABC-Clio}}</ref>
When citing a work in a periodical, there are standardized formats such as ''The Chicago Manual of Style''. In the latest edition of this style, a work with volume number 17 and issue number 3 may be written as follows:
* James M. Heilman, and Andrew G. West. "Wikipedia and Medicine: Quantifying Readership, Editors, and the Significance of Natural Language." ''Journal of Medical Internet Research'' 17, no. 3 (2015). {{doi|10.2196/jmir.4069|doi-access=free}}.
Sometimes, periodicals are numbered in absolute numbers instead of volume-relative numbers, typically since the start of the publication. In rare cases, periodicals even provide both: a relative issue number and an absolute number.<ref name="DrDobbs_1978_V3N2I22" /><!-- examples: Minolta-Spiegel --> There is no universal standard for indicating absolute numbers, but often a '#' is used.
The first issue of a periodical is sometimes also called a premiere issue or charter issue.<ref name="PC_1982_V1N1" /> The first issue may be preceded by dummy or zero issues. A last issue is sometimes called the final issue.<ref name="Thompson_1990_N53" />
=== Frequency === Periodicals are often characterized by their period (or frequency) of publication.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequency of Publication codes |url= https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/staff/dts/holdings_rec_mgt/irism_freqcode.html |website=www.libraries.rutgers.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Frequencies |url= http://www.oclc.org/support/help/olib/906/Content/Serials/Frequencies.htm |website=www.oclc.org}}</ref> This information often helps librarians make decisions about whether or not to include certain periodicals in their collection.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dickinson |first1=Kelly |last2=Boyd |first2=Bryanna |last3=Gunningham |first3=Regan |title=Reference Analysis as an Aid in Collection Development: A Study of Master of Architecture Theses at Dalhousie University |journal=Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management |date=29 November 2010 |volume=5 |issue=1 |doi=10.5931/djim.v5i1.48 |doi-access=free}}</ref> It also helps scholars decide which journal to submit their paper to.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Where to submit your manuscript |title=How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper |date=7 June 2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107670747 |edition=7th |page=33}}</ref> {|class=wikitable !Period !! Meaning !! Frequency |- |Quinquennially || Once per 5 years || {{frac|1|5}} per year |- |Quadriennially || Once per 4 years || {{frac|1|4}} per year |- |Triennially || Once per 3 years || {{frac|1|3}} per year |- |Biennially || Once per 2 years || {{frac|1|2}} per year |- |Annually || Once per year || 1 per year |- |Semiannually, Biannually || Twice per year || 2 per year |- |Triannually || Thrice per year || 3 per year |- |Quarterly || Every quarter || 4 per year |- |Bimonthly || Every 2 months || 6 per year |- |Semi-quarterly || Twice per quarter || 8 per year |- |Monthly || Every month || 12 per year |- |Semi-monthly || Twice per month || 24 per year |- |Biweekly, Fortnightly || Every two weeks || 26 per year |- |Weekly || Every week || 52 per year |- |Semi-weekly || Twice per week || 104 per year |- |Daily || Once per business day || Varies |- |}
==Popular and scholarly== thumb|Cover of ''Science in School'' magazine<ref>{{cite web |title=Cover of Science in School 32 |url= https://www.eso.org/public/images/ann15057a/ |access-date=13 July 2015}}</ref>
Periodicals are often classified as either popular or scholarly. Popular periodicals are usually magazines (e.g., ''Ebony'' and ''Esquire''). Scholarly journals are most commonly found in libraries and databases. Examples are ''The Journal of Psychology'' and the ''Journal of Social Work''.
Trade magazines are also examples of periodicals. They are written for an audience of professionals in particular fields. As of the early 1990s, there were over 6,000 academic, business, scientific, technical, and trade publications in the United States alone.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Gary |last1=Blake |author1-link=Gary Blake |first2=Robert W. |last2=Bly |author2-link=Robert W. Bly |name-list-style=amp |title=The Elements of Technical Writing |page=113 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |date=1993 |isbn=0020130856}}</ref>
==Indefinite vs. part-publication== These examples are related to the idea of an indefinitely continuing cycle of production and publication: magazines plan to continue publishing, not to stop after a predetermined number of editions. By contrast, a novel might be published in monthly parts, a method revived after the success of ''The Pickwick Papers'' by Charles Dickens.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/pu_novel.html |work=Aspects of the Victorian Book |title=The Novel |via=The British Library |access-date=17 June 2008 |archive-date=24 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524101310/http://www.bl.uk/collections/early/victorian/pu_novel.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> This approach is called '''part-publication''', particularly when each part is from a whole work, or a serial, for example in comic books. It flourished during the nineteenth century, for example with Abraham John Valpy's ''Delphin Classics'', and was not restricted to fiction.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Simon |last1=Eliot |first2=Jonathan |last2=Rose |name-list-style=amp |title=A Companion to the History of the Book |url= https://archive.org/details/companiontohisto00elio |url-access=limited |date=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/companiontohisto00elio/page/n314 297] |isbn=9781405127653}}{{full citation needed|date= February 2015}}</ref> A practical differentiation between a serially published book and a book series is that the first involves pieces of a book being released over time (e.g., chapters, sections) whereas the latter involves complete books being released one after another. The distinction is a little blurrier in the case of a multivolume reference book released via part-publication, where each volume is from one viewpoint a "whole book" but from another viewpoint not a whole work. The ''Encyclopædia Metropolitana'' and the ''London Encyclopædia'' were instances of the latter type.
==Standard numbers== The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is to serial publications (and by extension, periodicals) essentially what the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is to books: a standardized reference number. However, the ISSN only identifies the overall serial, not any specific volume or issue, so is of much less utility in finding and accessing particular content.
==Distribution== Postal services often carry periodicals at a preferential rate; for example, Second Class Mail in the United States only applies to publications issued at least quarterly.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.answers.com/topic/second-class-mail |title=Second Class Mail |work=Barron's Business Dictionary |via=Answers.com}}</ref>
==See also== * Partwork * Part
==References== <references> <ref name="DrDobbs_1978_V3N2I22">{{cite magazine |title=Front matter |magazine=Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia |publisher=People's Computer Company |id=#22<!-- absolute number --> |volume=3 |issue=2<!-- relative number --> |date=February 1978 |isbn=0-8104-5490-4 |url= https://archive.org/details/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_03/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_03 |access-date=10 February 2020}} [https://archive.org/stream/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_03/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_03_djvu.txt][https://archive.org/download/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_03/dr_dobbs_journal_vol_03.pdf]</ref> <ref name="PC_1982_V1N1">{{cite magazine |title=PC: The Independent Guide To IBM Computers |magazine=PC |issn=<!-- not assigned at this time, but already applied for --> |volume=1 |number=1 |id=Premiere/Charter issue |publisher=Software Communications, Inc. |date=February–March 1982 |pages=front matter, 9 |url= https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_w_OhaFDePS4C |access-date=10 February 2020}} [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_w_OhaFDePS4C/bub_gb_w_OhaFDePS4C_djvu.txt][https://archive.org/download/bub_gb_w_OhaFDePS4C/bub_gb_w_OhaFDePS4C.pdf]</ref> <ref name="Thompson_1990_N53">{{cite magazine |editor-last=Thompson |editor-first=David J. |title=Micro Cornucopia: The Micro Technical Journal |series=Around the bend |magazine=Micro Cornucopia |publisher=Micro Cornucopia Inc. |issn=0747-587X |date=May 1990 |issue=53 |location=Bend, Oregon |pages=front matter |url= http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/microCornucopia/Micro_Cornucopia_%2353_May90.pdf |access-date=11 February 2020}} [https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_microCornua53May90_14950662][https://archive.org/stream/bitsavers_microCornua53May90_14950662/Micro_Cornucopia_53_May90_djvu.txt][https://archive.org/download/bitsavers_microCornua53May90_14950662/Micro_Cornucopia_53_May90.pdf]</ref> </references>
== External links == {{EB1911 poster|Periodicals}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Periodical Literature}} Category:Periodicals Category:Comics terminology Category:Publishing