Length of articles

Broad range of topics, presented in shorter articles

Specific, often narrowly focused topics in lengthy, in-depth articles

Audience

Intended to attract a general readership without any particular expertise or advanced education

Intended for specialist readership of researchers, academics, students, and professionals

Authority/Expertise

Written by journalists, staff, or freelance writers using popular language

Written by specialists and researchers in subject area, usually employing technical, subject-specific language and jargon

Format/Bibliography

Articles rarely contain references or footnotes and follow no specific format

Well-researched, documented articles nearly always follow standard format: abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, conclusion, bibliography/references

Frequency

Published frequently (i.e., weekly, biweekly, or monthly)

Usually monthly, quarterly, or once or twice per year

Inclusions

Designed to attract eye of potential newsstand customers: usually filled with photographs or illustrations

Sober design: mostly text with some tables or graphs accompanying articles; usually little or no photography; negligible, if any, advertising

Pagination

Each issue begins with page number '1'

Page numbers of issues within a volume (year) are usually consecutive (i.e., first page of succeeding issue is number following last page number of previous issue)

Purpose

Presented to entertain, promote point of view, and/or sell products

Intended to present researchers' findings and conclusions based on original research