Check out our Steps to Writing a Research Paper guide.
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)  |
Time, Newsweek, People |
The New York Times,
|
| 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 |
