Magazines are publications that are printed with ink on paper, and generally published on a regular schedule and containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three. At its root the word magazine refers to a collection or storage location. In the case of written publication, it is a collection of written articles.

Distribution
Magazines can be distributed through the mail; through sales by newsstands, bookstores, or other vendors; or through free distribution at selected pick-up locations. Sales models for distribution fall into three main categories.

Paid circulation
In this model, the magazine is sold to readers for a price, either on a per-issue basis or by subscription, where an annual fee or monthly price is paid and issues are sent by post to readers. Examples from the UK include Private Eye and PC Pro.

Non-Paid Circulation
This means that there is no cover price and issues are given away, for example in street dispensers, airline in-flight magazines, or included with other products or publications. An example from the UK and Australia is TNT Magazine.

Controlled circulation
This is the model used by "insider magazines" or industry-based publications distributed only to qualifying readers, often for free and determined by some form of survey. This latter model was widely used before the rise of the World Wide Web and is still employed by some titles. For example, in the United Kingdom, a number of computer-industry magazines, including Computer Weekly and Computing, and in finance, Waters Magazine. 

Technical definition
In the library technical sense a "magazine" paginates with each issue starting at page one. Academic or professional publications that are not peer-reviewed are generally professional magazines.