Credibility Continuum

Popular periodicals contain articles that reflect the tastes of the general public and are meant to entertain the reader and sell the products of their advertisers. Some popular periodicals, such as Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, may contain more in-depth articles that fall into the "Substantive News" category.

• Content: Secondary discussion of someone else's research.  Articles are brief and may include unsupported opinions.
• Author(s): Author(s) are journalists writing as a career; they are paid for their content. Generally not experts in subject field, but may be members of the editorial staff, or free lance writers.
• Credibility: Author's credentials are usually not provided.
• Audience:  Geared for a general audience. There is no specialty assumed, only an interest in the subject matter.
• Language: Written with commonly understandable vocabulary. Most people will easily understand the article.
• References: Not likely found.  Many popular articles will not have citations or even mention their source(s).