There are many types of articles and depending on the field, assignment and professor, you may be asked to find peer-reviewed or scholarly articles.
Peer Reviewed: Peer-reviewed articles are predominantly found in the science and medical disciplines. The articles are reviewed by multiple experts (peers) in a highly structured and critical process. The author then receives that feedback, makes changes and resubmits the work, and then the journal editor decides whether to publish it.
Scholarly: These articles are research focused and written for an academic audience; they most likely have only been reviewed by an editorial board, rather than content experts.
Trade journals are periodicals that publish articles relevant to a particular field or industry. They are usually written by professionals actively working in the field, or by journalists who have knowledge of the field
There is no quality assurance when it comes to information found on the Internet: Anyone can post an article and some websites have sponsors who pay for specific content to promote their products or ideas. The information is not impartial but biased. It is important to review the information that you find on the Internet to make sure that it is reliable.
If you decide to use an article found on the Internet, run it be the "CRAAP Test" first by asking yourself:
Currency: The timeliness of the information.
Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
Authority: The source of the information.
Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.
Purpose: The reason the information exists.
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How can you tell the difference between types of periodicals? | ||||
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Popular magazines |
Trade, industry and professional journals |
Journals of commentary and opinion |
Scholarly & research journals |
AUTHOR |
Usually a staff writer or journalist. Sometimes the author's name is not provided. |
Writers with subject knowledge or practitioners and professionals. |
Great variety: specialists, journalists, organizational members, others. |
Primarily experts, often university researchers, whose credentials are usually included. |
AUDIENCE |
Written for the "average" person who doesn't have in-depth knowledge of a topic. (popular) |
Multiple levels of readers: general public to practitioners and professionals. (mostly popular) |
General audience, high school and up. (popular) |
Aimed at professionals, researchers, scholars, or others with more in-depth knowledge of the topic. (scholarly) |
CONTENT |
Entertainment, opinion, current topics, quick facts. |
Trends, forecasts, news and events in the field; products, book reviews, employment, biography. |
Commentary on social and political issues, specific viewpoints, book reviews. |
Research, analysis, scholarship. Often includes abstract, research methods, conclusion, bibliography. |
LENGTH |
Shorter articles providing broad overviews of topics. (popular) |
Short newsy items to longer, in-depth articles. |
Varies: short, pithy, articles to more in-depth discussion. An issue may be devoted to a particular topic. |
Longer articles providing in-depth analysis of topics. (scholarly) |
APPEARANCE |
Glossy, color pictures, advertisements. |
Ads related to the field or profession. Charts, tables, illustrations. |
Varies considerably. Some have graphics and advertisements. |
Dense text, usually with graphs and charts, fewer specialized, advertisements. |
CREDIBILITY |
Articles are generally evaluated by staff editors rather than experts in the field. |
Articles reviewed by editors from professional associations or commercial/trade organizations. |
Publications support a particular viewpoint or specific interest group. Opinionated. |
Articles reviewed by a "jury" of experts--"peer-reviewed" or "refereed"—before publication. |
EXAMPLES |
People, Essence, Hispanic, Good Housekeeping, Out, Time, Vogue, Sports Illustrated |
Corrections Today, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Deputy and Court Officer, Federal Probation |
Mother Jones, National Review, America, Harper’s, New Republic, Commentary, Progressive, Atlantic |
Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology |
Adapted from ACC Library Services Libguides.