American Literature I: Beginnings through 1865

Length of Articles

• Short (1-5 pages)

Audience

Authority/Expertise

• Journalists, rather than researchers or specialists in a given field

Bibliography

• None

Frequency

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

Inclusions

• Many photographs or other illustrations


• Extensive commercial advertising

Subjects

• Variety of topic/subject areas (Time, New Yorker, National Review)

OR


• Single subject area with the intention of informing or entertaining a general audience. Sports Illustrated or Vogue are good examples.

Vocabulary

• Use conventional/conversational language, as opposed to a specialized vocabulary

Length

• Lengthy (5-50 pages)

Authority/Expertise

• Publish articles written by academics, specialists or researchers in the field (as opposed to articles written by journalists reporting on or synthesizing research).

• Are often produced under the editorial supervision of a professional association (e.g., Journal of the American Medical Association) or by a scholarly press (e.g., Elsevier, Pergamon).

• Articles go through a rigorous review process (sometimes called ‘refereed’ or ‘peer-reviewed’) by experts in the field before they are selected for publication.

Bibliography

• Always present at the end of the article, chapter or book. 

Inclusions 

• Often publish reviews of the literature.

• Charts or tables

• Rare use of news photos and other types of graphics unless the research is visual in nature, such as art, design or architecture.

Subject Coverage

• Generally confined to a single, very specific aspect of a subject area (e.g., music theory, European political science, film studies, language development).