A professional magazine or professional journal is a periodical published by the governing body of a profession.^[1][2] The standard of quality of such a periodical may be similar to that of a scholarly publication.^[1]

A professional journal is said to be one which is "published by the profession and for the profession", which cannot be charged with being dominated by trade,^[3] and which "serves a higher and therefore a better use" than a so-called trade journal "by printing in an unbiased way the subject matter".^[4]