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| Popular Magazine & Newspapers | Scholarly Journals | |
| Audience: | General Public | Scholars, Researchers, and Students |
| Articles written by: |
Journalist Reporters Almost anyone |
Professionals within a field Scholars Articles usually indicate author affiliations (Universities or research centers) |
| Content: |
News Nontechnical language Entertainment purposes |
In-depth research Original Findings Technical language Research reports Charts, graphs, or equations Bibliographies References (endpoints and footnotes) Continuous pagination |
| Language | Easy to understand | Specialized terminology |
| Appearance |
Consumer advertising Glossy Photos Non-standard language |
Dense Text Few Ads (specialized) Structured, includes abstract, objectives, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. |
| Publication schedule: |
Weekly Daily Issues identified by day/month/year |
Monthly Quarterly Biannually Issues usually identified by volume and/or issue number |
| Can be useful for: |
Broad overview of complex issues Popular perspective on any issue Finding out what is being written about a subject generally |
Current Research Checking accuracy of data or statistics |
| Accountability: |
Articles are edited by editorial staff Edited for format and style Limited, if any, references given |
Peer-reviewed Edited for content, format, and style References available |
| Examples: | Examples include Time, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, National Geographic, and the New York Times | Examples include American Journal of Sociology, British Medical Journal (BMJ), and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) |