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EGL 1010 - Composition I: Evaluating Articles

Evaluating Articles

Magazines, Journals, and Newspapers: What's the Difference

The Prince George's Community College Library collection contains magazines, journals and newspapers. An assignment may require that articles be found in journals, not magazines and newspapers. What is the difference?


magazine may be up-to-date, retrospective, and informative, but the articles are not based on in-depth research. Magazines are often full of large color photos. The articles are most often written by journalists and sometimes may be unsigned. The main purpose of magazines is to provide light coverage on topics of popular interest. Examples of magazines are:

  • People Weekly
  • TV Guide
  • Good Housekeeping

journal contains articles that are based on research in a particular field. The authors of the articles are experts and scholars in the subject. Journal articles are scholarly, may be peer reviewed or refereed, often lengthy, and may contain tables and graphs that support the author's discussion. Journal articles usually conclude with a list of references, called a bibliography, which are the sources from which the author did research. Examples of journals are:

  • Political Science Quarterly
  • Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
  • Journal of Asian Studies

Newspapers tend to be more current because they are published more frequently. A newspaper does not cover information in-depth on an issue but describes events as they occur. Many newspapers tend to focus on geographic news from a local perspective.

  • The New York Times
  • Baltimore Sun
  • The Washington Post