| Audience |
- Scholars, researchers, and students
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- Other members of the profession or trade
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- General audience, all readers
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| Author |
- Scholars, researchers, and experts in the field of study
- Author's credentials in the field are stated (e.g., institutional affiliation, maybe degrees)
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- Members of the profession or trade, specialized journalists, or technical writers
- Credentials are usually not provided
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- Reporters/journalists, usually not experts on the subject
- Authors may not have special qualifications for writing article; credentials are usually not provided
- For personal blogs and social media accounts, authors may include as much or as little information as they like
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|
Bibliography/ References
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- Sources cited in footnotes and/or bibliography
- Usually extensive list of references
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- Documentation of sources is not required, though sometimes brief bibliographies of further readings are included
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- Sources are not cited or cited informally
- Often rely on quotes for experts or witnesses for evidence
- No reference list provided
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| Language and Writing Style |
- Field-specific language/jargon;
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- Includes jargon and terms that are commonly used in the profession or trade but generally less technical scholarly sources
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- Written in everyday language accessible to any general reader
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| Purpose |
- To report results of original research, experimentation or analysis
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- Provide practical information for members of a profession or industry, including topics like news, trends, products, and research summaries
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- Provide broad, general information and entertainment
- Secondary but not "original" research (the author didn’t conduct the actual lab work, math, or theoretical analysis.)
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| Appearance |
- Dense text-based pages
- May contain complicated graphs or charts
- Usually will not include color glossy pages or photographs
- Very little advertising, if any
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- Moderate number of advertisements targeted to the interests of the members of a profession, industry, or organization
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- Attractive appearance – colorful
- Advertisements
- Heavily illustrated
- Generally short in length
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| Examples |
American Journal of Psychology
Journal of the American Medical Association
Nature
African Journal of Ecology
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Advertising Age
Education Week
Supply and Demand Chain Executive
Health Insurance Underwriter Magazine
Beverage Industry Magazine
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Psychology Today
National Geographic
Salt Lake Tribune
TV news broadcasts (local news stations like KSL, national news like CNN, MSNBC, etc.)
Blogs, YouTube videos, personal websites
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