| Academic Information Scholarly Journals |
Professional Information Trade Journals |
Consumer Information Popular Magazines |
|---|---|---|
| Aimed at scholars and professionals in a specific academic field | Practical information for a particular profession or industry | News, feature stories, opinion pieces aimed at the general public |
| Articles written by scholars based on their own research | Articles written by reporters or practitioners in the field | Articles written by reporters; sometimes unsigned |
| Authors’ credentials and affiliations are listed |
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Articles are reviewed by experts in the field to ensure research was done correctly and that the result is new and significant (peer-reviewed or refereed) |
Reviewed by general editors |
Reviewed by fact-checkers and general editors |
|
Articles usually include an abstract, hypothesis, literature review, research method, results, conclusion, and extensive references |
Articles may include abstract and short reference list |
Rarely cite sources |
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May include tables and graphs to support research |
Fairly heavily illustrated |
Heavily illustrated |
|
Very little advertising |
Advertising related to the field |
Lots of advertising |
Subject(s)