What kind of journal is your article published in?
- Language (formal, informal, argot)
- Intended audience
- Purpose of article
- Author credentials/expertise
- Journal publisher/sponsoring organization
- Visual cues - what kind of advertising is there (if any)? What kind of photos, charts, and other graphics?
- What else...?
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Academic/Scholarly
Peer Review in Three Minutes
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Scholarly research/discovery - intended to educate
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topic/point of paper is significant, unique
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citations to referenced works
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Formal academic prose and style
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Often (especially in social sciences and sciences) use the IRAD/IMRAD format (sorry, I don't have a source for this to cite properly :-(
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Author has academic subject matter expertise
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Peer review - has passed critique from other subject matter experts
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Can be used for analysis, frameworks, explanations
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Generally considered the gold standard in academia, but consider Retraction Watch
Trade/Professional
- Intended for people who work in a profession or trade.
- Vocational perspective
- May use professional lingo
- Advertisements reflect interests of the trade or profession
- May distill academic articles relevant to their readers
- Examples/evidence from that vocational perspective
Opinion Magazines [ideas]
- All about opinions and perspectives from a common ideology (economic, social, political)
- Meant to persuade or bolster people with similar viewpoints
- Often include soc/pol/econ/cultural criticism and commentary
- Contemporary view, often policy orientation, examples, perspectives/ arguments, straw men?
- Language is generally standard but may assume expertise/in-group status
Policy Journals [ideas]
- Intended for people who make policy (national, international, or thematic, i.e. education), or are interested in policy
- Generally, publish articles from a broad range of perspectives/ideologies
- Want to introduce ideas into the world, get them talked about, and influence policy
- Article authors may be politicians, government officials, academics, think tankers, etc.
- Writing is usually formal, may sometimes include citations
- Example - the hugely influential article The Clash of Civilizations? by Samuel P. Huntington in Foreign Affairs in 1993, and Joseph Nye's article on Soft Power in Foreign Policy in 1990.
Popular/Consumer
- Mass market publications
- many different subjects - can be targeted to general topics, interests and hobbies, and more.
- Contemporary view
- Authors may or may not have academic expertise, but generally many have experience/expertise in area(s) in which they write
- Writing is standard English
- Can be used for evidence/ examples...
Tabloid
- Gossip and celebrities ;-)
- Contemporary view
- Writing is more casual
- Evidence/ examples...
Newspaper
- “ snapshot in time”
- contemporary view
- evidence/examples...
