Scientific & Academic Journals
Science (or academic) journal is a journal in which articles are submitted for review to independent experts for publication, these experts are usually not members of the journal’s editorial board and they conduct research in areas similar to the subject of the article. The scientific journal is one of the main components of the scientific literature. Material reviewing is carried out in order to try to protect readers from methodological errors or falsifications. A print in a scientific journal may be preceded by a preprint.
The first scientific journal is considered the French Journal Des Savants, which began to be published in Paris in 1665. Scientific journals are usually published in paper form, but recently there has been a steady tendency to transfer them to electronic media, in particular the Internet (net journals).
It is worth noting that there are a huge number of academic journal, but not every resource or magazine can boast of special achievements or materials that they publish. In order to weed out the grain from the chaff, we will talk about the top 5 popular science journals abroad.
The most popular scientific journals in the world
5. Scientific American
The fifth place is taken by Scientific American. It was published back in 1845 – Scientific American.
Initially, Scientific American was not actually a journal, it was a four-page newspaper that wrote about new inventions. The newspaper devoted most of its attention to the reports of the US Patent Office, which is not surprising since the office was the best source of useful information at that time. Over time, the journal developed, its volume increased, and they began to write not only about discoveries.
In addition, at the beginning of the 20th century, the journal was distinguished by the fact that it published The Americana encyclopedia (which is considered one of the largest encyclopedias in English) in 16 volumes. It is also interesting to see how the journal changed its direction as part of the selection of the target audience.
Initially, these were directly scientists working in various fields of science, but over time, the journal re-qualified and began to produce materials for educated people who are guided in certain issues. By the way, the material produced by Scientific American has never been a bastion of small popular science reviews but, on the contrary, it strives for the bulk of the material. That is why SciAM positions itself as a kind of forum where scientists from all over the world can express and share their discoveries and thoughts.
Along with the printed one, there is an net version of this academic journal; it is easy to find it on the Internet.
4. Discover
The fourth place is taken by the Discover journal. Initially, its audience included non-professionals in the world of science, however, they have simplified the concept of presenting the material, and the journal did not use materials about various “mysterious” phenomena such as UFOs, Bigfoot, etc. In fact, the purpose of the journal could initially be interpreted as a search for a “golden mean” between scientific publications and light science-fiction notes. First published in 1980, the journal was able to immediately gain the confidence of the audience. Besides the fact that it published quite serious scientific materials, the authors did not forget about what will help to lure the reader. Articles on psychology and psychiatry became this bait. However, the journal had something to interest its reader with. One of the most popular rubrics was Skeptical About, in which the author tried to uncover the myths and fakes of the scientific world. Thus, this heading has become the most read for several years. However, after two decades (in 2006), the journal’s policy underwent changes associated with a change of leadership and many of the rubrics disappeared, and the design of the journal changed.
The journal is still published today. You can also can read the net version of the journal.
3. Popular Mechanics
The Popular Mechanics journal takes the third position. It has been released since January 11, 1902 and is a classic representative of popular science magazines. The current circulation is more than 1 million 200 thousand copies; it is published in some countries of the world (including the countries of South Africa and others). There was a publication in Latin America, but it was forced to close.
Despite the fact that the circulation has decreased compared to the 80s of the XX century, it cannot be said that the journal has lost its audience. The decrease in circulation by 400 thousand is largely associated not with the decline in interest of readers, but with the development of the Internet, which made it possible to create a net journal.
By the way, the English-language Popular Mechanics have a website, and subscribing to this prestigious publication will cost you only $12 per year.
2. Popular Science
The second place in our top 5 best academic journals in the world is taken by Popular Science, which is the real embodiment of popular science, currently it is published in 45 different countries of the world, translated in more than 30 languages, has many awards.
This publication does not need an additional presentation. Initially, the journal published the works of contemporary scientists such as Darwin, Huxley, Pierce, Kettel and others, but did not immediately gain popularity. During its appearance the journal managed to draw attention, but every year its popularity faded until finally at the beginning of the 20th century it was sold to a new publisher (by the way, this publisher was James Kettel, whose articles were published more than once in Popular Science). However, this did not help the magazine and in 1915 it was sold again. Almost a century later, Popular Science organized an innovative project – a betting platform for betting on the prediction of the latest inventions of mankind.
Now the journal has gained respect and popularity, which has raised it almost to the top, at least according to the circulation (1.323.041 pieces – impressive, isn’t it?).
1. National Geographic
We decided to give the best scientific journal award to National Geographic – this publication, in our opinion, deserves a leading position among the popular academic journals in the world. National Geographic is published in many countries and is translated in 33 languages .
Its parent was the National Geographic Society. Initially, the journal only published scientific articles, and illustrations did not appear in the journal until 1905. The history of the journal as a popular science begins in 1905.
The most important thing was the publication of a photograph of the mysterious and unknown at that time Tibet. And this became a key event because these photos actually saved the magazine from ruin and created its corporate identity.
To date, the joural’s audience is more than 40 million people, the circulation is more than 4 million copies, and the magazine publishes unique photographs and exclusive materials on history, archeology, culture and science. All this makes National Geographic the undisputed leader in the race for the popularity and quality of popular academic magazines.
