Academic journals are where the most current research is published. They contain articles which can be written by one or multiple authors.

Academic journals used to be published in print format, but most of them are now available online.

Academic journals tend to focus on a specific field of study.

Some examples are:

Academic journals are peer-reviewed. Peer-review is a quality control process. Articles are read by specialists in the field of research before they are published. These readers (called reviewers) check that the article is based on good research, that the methodology is appropriate, that the data collected is valid and credible, that the article brings new knowledge to the field of research.