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Scholarly, magazine, and newspaper articles each serve different purposes. This chart highlights who writes them, who reads them, and how they are reviewed and written.
| 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 |
Access articles in full text from this alphabetical listing of Phoenix College Library databases.