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SCHOLARLY
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POPULAR
|
|
|
General Interest
|
Trade / Professional
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Sensational
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LENGTH
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Long; 8 pages or more
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Short; 6 pages or less
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Short; 6 pages or less
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Short
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CONTENT
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Original research or experimentation.
Format:
title, abstract, literature review, methodology, discussion, conclusion, bibliography
|
Broad focus topics:culture, politics, etc.
|
News, trends, developments and products for industry or profession
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Celebrity gossip, unusual news stories that may lack credibility
|
READERSHIP or AUDIENCE
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Academics
Students
Professionals
|
Educated audience but non-specialists
|
Professionals and experts in the field
|
Gullible audience, appeal to superstitions and prejudice
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AUTHOR
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Specialists and researchers in a subject area
|
Staff or freelance writers who may have subject expertise
|
Professionals in the field, and/or staff writers
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Often unidentified
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VOCABULARY
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Technical vocabulary and specialized jargon
|
Average level ranging from formal to conversational
|
Some specialized vocabulary but fairly readable
|
Elementary and inflammatory, popular language
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ACCOUNTABILITY
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Peer reviewed
Significant references
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Not peer reviewed
Minimal references
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Not peer reviewed
Minimal references
|
Not peer reviewed
Entirely unsubstantiated
|
ADVERTISEMENTS
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Few or none
|
Moderate
|
Moderate (tend to be trade related)
|
Many
|
APPEARANCE
|
Plain, black/white graphics, charts and figures
|
Glossy w/ color with photographs and illustrations
|
Glossy w/ color with photographs and illustrations
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Newspaper format, color with many photographs
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EXAMPLES
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The Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal of Sport and Social Issue
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The Atlantic Monthly
Sports Illustrated
Time
Vogue
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Advertising Age
American Teacher
Publishers Weekly
Supermarket News
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National Examiner
Star
Weekly World News
|
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This chart has been adapted from UC Santa Cruz's web page "Distinguish Between Popular and Scholarly Periodicals".
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