Difference Between Article and Journal

Written compositions are available in varied types and forms, and targets a different segment of audiences. One who is interested in reading can find articles in various publications. An article is nothing but just a piece of writing on a particular topic, which along with other written material included in the books, magazines, newspaper, website, blogs, journals, etc.

On the contrary, Journal is a periodical publication in a specific field of study, which is often reviewed by experts in the concerned area. Journal publications are regarded as one of the highly honoured forms of publications, because of its high standards in reviewing and publishing.

Come let’s discuss the differences between article and journal.

Content: Article Vs Journal

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Article	Journal
Meaning	An article refers to a piece of prose, often included in different publications, such as newspapers or magazines.	Journal is a scholarly publication consisting of academic study, achievements and information concerning a particular discipline.
What is it?	Literary work	Form of publication
Nature	Non-fiction and Informative	Educational and Academic
Contains	News, Stories Information, Experience, Opinion, Suggestion, Facts, etc.	Articles, Book Reviews, Editorial Content, Achievements, Feedback, etc.
Written on	The topic of interest of the writer or any burning issue.	The specific field of study and developments thereon.
Objective	To influence the reader and urging them to think.	To provide relevant information relating to the professional course.

Definition of Article

The article implies an independently written composition, usually short and precise, which is traditionally included in the newspaper, magazines, websites, journals, etc. It is written for a large audience in an entertaining manner, so as to grab and retain their interest and attention. The name of the person who wrote the article is always mentioned.

An article not just integrates facts, but the thoughts and opinions of the writer and experts, and balanced arguments are also included. A well-drafted article often brings out topics of interest into the limelight.

An article may cover fascinating stories, reported speech, information, suggestions and other descriptions. It can also describe any event, experience, person or anything else. Articles are classified on the basis of need or preference:

• News Articles: Articles containing breaking news, information, happenings, events of public interest, what will happen in the near future or a trending topic. It may contain photographs, charts, interviews, debates, etc. Its objective is to report on when, how, where and why the event took place and who is involved in it.
• Feature Articles: One that is written creatively and descriptively so as to entertain, engage and influence the reader. The article can be based on anything, i.e. from people to place or from event to experience.
• Editorial Articles: These are commonly found in newspapers and magazines, which often showcase a new outlook or opinion, on a current issue. It often expresses a distinctive angle or approach about someone or something and provokes the reader to think that way.
• How-to Articles: Such articles are instructional in the sense that they offer complete guidelines on how-to-do something.
• Marketing Articles: A short piece of writing, which is actually an advertisement, written to catch the attention of the reader towards the company’s product or service.
• Question-Answer Articles: As the name suggest, these articles are in question-answer format, based upon an interview with the famous personality. It does not contain an introductory paragraph.
• Profile Articles: Profile articles are all about a specific person, which requires research and interview, to gather relevant information about that person.

Definition of Journal

Journal can be defined as a professional or academic publication, which features a number of educational articles, written by researchers, experts or someone having academic qualifications in the concerned subject, which presents original and new research, book reviews, feedback, review articles and so forth. It includes references and targets academic audience only.

A journal is always on a specific discipline, that targets a particular group of people, typically students pursuing that discipline and not the general public. It must be noted, the journals are usually peer-reviewed (refereed) and so they undergo an extensive editorial process. However, all the journals are not peer-reviewed.

They focus on current developments in the field of study. It is available in both offline (printed form) and online mode. One can use journal articles for the purpose of research as they are authoritative, up to date, topic-specific and understandable.

Journals are published periodically, i.e. weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. Each copy is termed as an issue, and a set of issues are called volume.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, an article differs from a journal in the sense that an article is a written composition, which is just a small part of the journal, while the journal is itself a publication containing a number of articles and other relevant material.