CSS 200 Introduction to Network Security - Security+

What is a Magazine?

Magazine Article: A regularly published collection of articles that might focus on any topic in general or on topics of interest to a specific group, such as sports fans or music fans or home decorators.

• Magazines might be published weekly, monthly, semi-monthly or only several times a year.
• Articles in magazines are typically written for the general reading public and don't reflect in-depth research (an exception might be an investigative report written in a news magazine that involved weeks or months of research and interviews to complete).
• Most magazine articles do not list references and are written by the magazine's own staff writers. In general, magazine articles are easy to read, are fairly brief in length, and may include illustrations or photographs.
• Magazines also rely heavily on advertisements targeted to consumers as a source of revenue.
• Examples of magazines include Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Popular Mechanics, Car and Driver, Interview, Good Housekeeping, Elle, GQ, and Sports Illustrated.

Authors: Author names may or may not be listed. Many magazine articles are written by the magazine editors or staff writers and may not attribute responsibility to individual authors. Those articles that do list authors typically do not give the author qualifications.

Frequency of Publication: Magazines typically publish monthly or more frequently (there are exceptions). Magazines routinely will use specific dates on their issues, such as December 14, 2008, or July 2008.

Use of Everyday Language: Magazine articles are typically written with the average reader in mind, so the language used is easily read and simple to understand.

Use of Illustrations and Photographs: Articles published in magazines frequently are illustrated with drawings or photographs, often in full color. Other publications might also include illustrative materials, but magazines are the most likely types of publications to include them.

Bibliography: Bibliographies are typically not included in magazine articles or, if they are included, are usually fairly brief.

Brevity: Magazine articles tend to be much shorter than articles from journals. An article might be half a page or even a dozen pages, but typically not much longer than a dozen. Pictures are often interspersed throughout the text so the actual text, even for a 12-page article, would amount to far less than a dozen pages.

Subject Focus: Magazines might cover a wide variety of interests or might focus a particular interest. For example, magazines like Time and Newsweek will cover current events, politics, entertainment, art, music, a wide variety of interests. Articles might take note of research being done in medicine, for example, but they stop short of actually providing the full details of the research being done. Magazines like Car and Driver and Popular Science will focus on specific areas of interest, but the articles that they publish are geared toward the casual reader or to readers with more than a passing interest in a subject, rather than to academics and scholars.

Advertisements: Magazines usually include numerous product advertisements. Advertisements might be for beauty aids, or automobiles, or computers, or just about anything. Some ads might be full page or even could consist of several pages included as an advertising insert or supplement.

Overall Appearance: Magazines are typically published in full color on glossy or semi-glossy paper. Magazine covers are slick and appealing and often provide highlights of big stories that will draw a reader's attention.