| | Scholarly Journals | Substantive/Trade or Professional Publications | Popular/General interest magazines |
|---|
| Sample titles |
e.g. Canadian Journal of Economics, Journal of Chemical Biology |
e.g. Economist, Advertising Age |
e.g. Maclean's, Time |
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| Author |
Written by scholars, often affiliated with a university or institution. |
Practitioners in a particular field. Scholar, free lance writer or staff. |
Magazine staff or free lance writer. Sometimes an expert or scholar. |
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| Purpose/Audience |
To make available original research or critical analysis to the scholarly world. |
To provide practical information to people in the field. To inform an educated audience. |
To provide information to the general public on a wide range of topics. |
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| Language/Tone |
Unemotional, factual, scientific. Formal style. |
Trade publications use language of a particular field, written for the educated professional. Substantive publications written for an educated public. |
Informal language. Easy reading. May be anecdotal or personal. |
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| Publisher |
Often published by a professional organization or university press; sometimes published by commercial enterprises for profit. |
Professional organization affiliated to a particular field. |
Published by commercial enterprises for profit. |
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| Validation |
Footnotes and bibliographies always included. |
Sources of information sometimes mentioned within the article. Bibliographies rarely included. |
Sources rarely cited. |
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| Review Process |
Articles go through peer review by other experts in the field. |
Minimal review by editorial staff. |
Minimal review by editorial staff. |
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| Layout |
May contain graphs, charts, photos included only to support text. |
Charts, graphs,photos relevant to article. May include graphic art. |
Photos and illustrations used as decorations. Includes advertising which targets the general public. |
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