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| Audience |
Written for a general audience using non-technical language |
Written for a specific audience using jargon of the field |
Written for people who work in a specific field |
| Authorship |
Authors may be staff writers or freelancers |
Authors are experts or scholars in the field and often have a university affiliation |
Authors may be professionals who work in the field |
| Purpose |
To provide general information, opinion, or entertainment, typically broad-based |
To report original research or thought, typically on a specific academic topic |
To keep members of a profession up-to-date with new research, products, and issues related to a specific field |
| Appearance |
Colorful with many pictures and ads |
Few images or ads, but may contain graphs or charts |
Colorful with images and advertising relating to the field |
| Length |
Articles are often short |
Articles are often lengthy |
Articles of varying lengths, but usually short |
| Authority |
Articles may be evaluated by editors, but not experts in the field |
Articles are usually reviewed and evaluated by a panel of experts in the field (peer-reviewed) |
Articles are evaluated by editors on staff |
| References |
Articles rarely have a Works Cited page |
Articles include Works Cited or list of References |
Articles rarely have a Works Cited page |
