A trade magazine, also called a professional magazine, is a magazine published with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade. The collective term for this area of publishing is the trade press.
Trade magazines typically contain advertising content focused on the industry in question with little if any general-audience advertising. They also generally contain industry-specific job notices, a highly pertinent aspect to many readers.[1] Many trade publications can also be considered news magazines with a very specific topical focus.
Some trade magazines operate under controlled circulation, meaning the publisher decides who may receive free subscriptions based on each individual's qualification as a member of the trade. This allows a high level of certainty that advertisements will be received by the advertiser's target audience.[2]
In some instances, the boundary between trade publication and peer-reviewed journal has blurred. One such example is BioTechniques, which contains peer-reviewed technical reports and technology reviews while containing heavy advertising content, a significant proportion of the articles being authored by or in collaboration with vendors who advertise in the same issue.