| How Can You Tell the Difference Between Types of Periodicals? |  |
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| Author | Most articles are signed, though not all, but little information beyond a name. | Physicists, science writers, journalists. You may have to dig for credentials. | Primarily experts, often university researchers, whose credentials are usually included. |
| Audience | General public. Written for the "average" person who doesn't need in-depth knowledge of a topic. (popular) | General public with an interest in more in-depth discussion of topic. (mostly popular) | Academics: scholars, researchers, college and graduate students |
| Content | Enterntainment, informative. | Some in-depth discussion and analysis with research on current popular topics in physics. | Research, analysis, scholarship. Often includes abstract, research methods, conclusion, bibliography. |
| Length | Shorter articles providing broad overviews of topics. (popular) | Short newsy items to longer, in-depth articles. | Longer articles providing in-depth analysis of topics. (scholarly) |
| Appearance | Glossy, colorful, pictures, busy, advertisements. Unclear division between ad and editorial content. | Glossy, pictures, advertisements. | Text-heavy, black & white, graphs, charts, relevant images, few specialized advertisements. |
| Credibility | Articles are generally evaluated by staff editors rather than experts in the field. Sources are frequently uncited and anonymous. | Articles are reviewed by editors and sometimes by experts in the field. | Articles are submitted for peer-review and approval by professionals and scholars in the field. Frequently sent back for revision for evidence, currency, comprehensiveness. |
Reports of original research
Authored by credentialed experts in the scholarly field
In-depth analyses of topics
Abstract that summarizes the article. Read to determine relevance
Explanation of methodology and materials
Discussion of study and results
Literature Cited section
In-text citations or notes
Use technical vocabulary
A Research article reports on an original experiment or study that investigates a stated problem. The study is carefully controlled so that results are valid. Data is collected and analyzed.
A Literature Review summarizes and analyzes the important articles on a topic. Literature reviews are a great resource for learning about the scope of research, question, issues and theories in a field.
A Theoretical article is an article that presents a theoretical approach to a question or field. It draws on others' research to support the theory, rather than presenting new research and data.