The terms ‘periodical’, ‘serial’ and ‘journal’ are used interchangeably in the Library, usually to mean an academic or scholarly journal.

• Periodical is a broad term, meaning anything that is published periodically. It could be newspapers, magazines, newsletters or journals.
• Serial is also a broad term, meaning anything that is published serially, or in a series. It is most often used to mean academic journals.
• A journal is a publication which comes out on a regular basis and contains articles.

You can see the Peer-Reviewed journals FAQ for information about peer reviewed or refereed journals.

https://canberra.libanswers.com/faq/192818