Scholarly (a.k.a. Peer-reviewed, Peer-edited, Academic)

General Interest / Substantive News

Popular

Sensational

Examples

• American Economic Review

• Journal of Marriage and the Family

• Journal of Abnormal Psychology

• New York Times

• Scientific American

• The Economist

• National Geographic

• People Weekly

• Sports Illustrated

• Time

• Readers Digest

• Globe

• The Inquirer

• Star

• Weekly World News

Appearance

• sober, serious look.

• many graphs and charts but few glossy pages or exciting pictures.

• Attractive layout

• Often many color pictures

• Attractive, “slick” layout

• Lots of graphics (pictures, drawings, ads)

• Articles usually short

• Lots of graphics

• Often come in newspaper format

Purpose

• to report on original research or experimentation

• to provide general information to a broad audience

• To entertain

• To sell products

• To promote a viewpoint

• to arouse curiosity and

• to cater to popular superstitions

Audience

• Scholars in that discipline

• Uses jargon of that field

• Any educated person

• Audience need only have interest, not expertise in that field

• Anyone with minimal education

• Anyone—generally, assume a certain gullibility on the part of the reader

Documentation

Sources always cited with footnotes or bibliographies

Sources sometimes cited

• Sources rarely cited

• Usually 2^nd or 3^rd-hand information

None

Published By

• specific professional organization

• commercial enterprises or individuals

• commercial enterprises or individuals

• commercial enterprises or individuals

Articles Written By:

• a scholar in the field or by

• someone who has done research in the field

• a member of the editorial staff or

• a scholar or

• a free lance writer

• a member of the editorial staff or

• a free lance writer

• a member of the editorial staff or

• a free lance writer