Good Essay On Differences Between Scholarly Journal Articles And Popular Magazine Articles

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Scholarly journal articles and popular magazine articles both provide reference points for important information in research. However, the reliability of information provided in the two cannot be compared and differs both in scope and quality. This paper differentiates scholarly articles and magazine articles showing how similar and different they are in characteristics.
Popular magazine articles have several characteristics. The articles give general information about a topic or subject, uses simple language, and are intended for the general public. More so, the articles do not have a bibliography, are shorter in length, contain advertisements, and use many colors and pictures to draw the attention of the readers. In addition, they provide information meant to educate the general public on basic or the latest information concerning a certain phenomenon. Due to this, they are written in a simple and entertaining language, without delving into a deeper analysis of the phenomenon.
On the other end, the scholarly journal articles have certain characteristics. Firstly, they contain original deeply researched information including field trials or experiments, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, with bibliographies at the end. By so doing, they provide credible information for scholars, students and professors concerning a certain phenomenon. In most cases, the language used in writing them is technical with few or no pictures at all. The articles are usually long with the authors highly qualified in the area.
Scholarly journal articles and popular magazine articles are similar in a number of ways. First, both publish topical information to provide information to people. Secondly, both articles have some element of research though popular magazines are shallower.

Bakalar versus Platz et al

Comparing the two articles, the scholarly article by Platz et al., discusses the issue of prostate cancer and vasectomy in details. It particularly discusses a study carried out in India on the connection between vasectomy and prostate cancer (Platz et al., 1997). The paper is detailed and provides the results from the research through which inferences concerning the subject under study are formulated. More so, it provides a theoretical background about the topic by quoting other previous studies carried out on the same. No doubt, the information from this article is credible considering that this was a real study with statistics and outcomes (Platz et al., 1997).
On the other hand, the article from Nicholas Bakalar from the New York Times with the same title quotes the latest studies concerning the topic ( Bakalar, 2014). It also gives the perceptions from various experts in the field concerning vasectomy and prostate cancer. However, it is merely quoting information from multiple sources, without offering concrete validation. More so, it uses a simple language that can be understood by the general population ( Bakalar, 2014).

References

Bakalar, N. (2014). A Vasectomy May Increase Prostate Cancer Risk. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/a-vasectomy-may-increase-prostate-cancer-risk/?_r=0
Platz, et al. (1997). Vasectomy and prostate cancer: a case-control study in India. International journal of epidemiology, 26 (5): 933-938. Retrieved from http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/5/933.short