Evaluating Resources Guide

What Is a Trade Publication?

Trade publications are commercial publications which contain discussion of current events, products, or news related to a specific industry or profession. They often use specialized terminology related to the field, and assume their audience of practitioners, professionals, and enthusiasts have a baseline understanding of that field. The authors are often practitioners in the field, industry professionals, or journalists with subject expertise and may included references or short bibliographies (but don't always). Because it is commercial it will have advertisements specific to that field. These publications are particularly important in the arts, as they will include contemporary conversations, current events, and active artists in a way that peer-reviewed scholarship cannot. Examples of trade publications in the arts include ARTnews, Art in America, Juxtapoz, Architectural Digest, Eye, etc.

How to Identify Trade Publications

The images above are of the same article online (left) and in print (right). No matter how it is published, trade publications have identifiable features that distinguish them from scholarly resources.

1. The author is listed, and if you look up their credentials they are often a journalist, critic, or other member of the arts community.
2. The text will use some technical language or jargon that enthusiasts or members of that profession will understand, but will be more accessible than scholarly articles. It also won't necessarily have citations or works referenced.
3. There will be large or attention-grabbing advertisements, which are often obvious online but may be less clear when looking at a printed publication. Remembering these are for folks in the arts, the printed advertisements are often for gallery shows, exhibits, or artists.