MAGAZINE, NEWSPAPER or JOURNAL Article???

How to Tell the Difference When Using the Online Article Databases

CLUE	MAGAZINE	NEWSPAPER	JOURNAL
NAME (Title of Periodical)	§ Rarely has the word “Journal” in the name.	§ Sometimes has the word “Journal,” “Daily,” “Gazette,” “Herald,” “Mail,” “News,” “Observer,” “Post,” “Sun,” “Telegraph,” “Times,” or “Wire” in the name. § Sometimes has place of publication in parentheses after the name, e.g., The Times (Denver, Colorado)	§ Sometimes has the word “Journal,” “Quarterly,” “Annals,” “Transactions,” or “Proceedings” in the name.
DATE	§ Usually published monthly § Sometimes bi-monthly (e.g., Sept/Oct) § Sometimes weekly	§ Usually published daily § Sometimes weekly § Occasionally monthly	§ Usually published quarterly § Sometimes monthly § Rarely annually § Often published in seasons: (e.g., Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter)
EDITION	§ No edition given	§ Sometimes has an edition, e.g., “Morning Edition,” “City Final,” “West Coast Edition”	§ No edition given
PAGE NUMBERS	§ Normal page numbers	§ Sometimes includes Roman numerals (e.g. I, II, II, IV) or letters (A, B, C) as sections	§ Normal page numbers § Sometimes very large numbers, e.g., pgs. 662-684
LENGTH OF ARTICLE	§ Short articles, usually less than 6 pages	§ Very short articles, usually less than 2 pages	§ Usually long articles, over 5 pages § Sometimes short, 1-page, editorials or book reviews § Medical and science journal articles are often only 1 - 5 pages long.
AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS	§ Usually only gives author’s /journalist’s name, not credentials. § Sometimes no author is given.	§ Usually only gives author’s/reporter’s name, not credentials. § Often no author is given.	§ Often experts with a PhD or a Master’s degree, or who work for a famous research institute § Credentials are given after author’s name or at end of article.
VOCABULARY	§ Usually easy to read, e.g., People Magazine, Newsweek § Sometimes harder to read, e.g., trade magazines written for business people, like Forbes	§ Usually easy to read § Sometimes harder to read, e.g., trade newspapers written for business people, like the Wall Street Journal	§ Always hard to read, e.g., Harvard Business Review, written for and by businesses professors and researchers at government and private research institutes
TOPICS	§ Informative articles on various topics § Personal views and experiences § Summaries of research, e.g., “Breast Cancer: The latest treatments”	§ Reports on latest news § May include “exposees” or “investigations.” § Short informative articles § Personal opinions, e.g., guest editorials, letters to the editor § Summaries of research, e.g., “El Paso Schools Improving”	§ Usually original reports of long-term scholarly research done by the author(s) of the articles. § The abstract may include terms like “random sample,” “correlation,” “qualitative/quantitative study,” or phrases like “This study presents/discusses/ analyzes/examines…”
BIBLIOGRAPHIES	§ Rarely have bibliographies at the end of the articles.	§ Never have bibliographies at the end of the articles.	§ Usually have bibliographies, often long ones, at the end of the articles.
ARTICLE DATABASES http://www.epcc.edu/ vvlib/vvonline.htm	§ Most of the databases will include magazine articles.	§ “Newspaper” databases find only newspaper articles. § Sometimes other databases will allow you to limit the search to newspaper articles.	§ Many databases will include journal articles. § Limiting to “Peer Reviewed,” “Refereed,” “Scholarly,” or “Professional” periodicals can limit the search to journal articles.

Warning: Some of the Online Article Databases include parts of books such as chapters or excerpts.

Clues: 1) Books are usually published in a year, not a day or month, 2) there is usually a place of publication and/or a publisher given, 3) sometimes there is an editor as well as an author, 4) sometimes there is an edition given such as 2^nd ed, 3^rd ed.

STILL NOT SURE? ASK A LIBRARIAN!

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Last updated August 25, 2008

Created and maintained by K.A. Gardner, E.P.C.C. Librarian

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