All About Articles

This research guide describes different characteristics of journal articles, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. Online tutorials on ways to locate online articles and distinguish between popular and scholarly articles are also included.

Types of Articles

There are three main types of articles, listed in the table below:

Features Scholarly Journal
Articles
Magazine Articles Newspaper Articles
Examples JAMA (Journal of the American
Medical Association)
JAMA academic journal
Time, Newsweek, People

Newsweek magazine

The New York Times,
The Arizona Republic

Arizona Republic Newspaper

Who writes the articles in these publications?  Experts in the field, such as professionals, scientists, and doctors Mostly journalists Journalists or reporters
Who reads these publications?  Other experts in the field or students like you that are doing research Everyone! Everyone!

Who decides if the articles are good enough to be published? 

Articles are reviewed by other experts (peers) in the field to make sure the content is accurate and the research methods are sound.  This is called the peer-review process.

Editors for the magazine review the articles.  These editors are professional writers, but are not necessarily experts on the topic being written about.

Editors for the newspaper
What kind of style are they written in?  Written with a lot of big words and technical terminology.  Primarily written to educate the reader about new research findings. Written for the general public so has lots of pictures, photographs, and everyday words.  Written in an entertaining way. Written for the general public

 

Electronic Resources