Academic Discourse and Genre

In the scientific journal that I have chosen to analyze, there seem to be three different genres of articles. In my blog post below, I will discuss each of the three different article-types.

The Editorial

• Is written in a first person form
• Uses a casual tone
• Tries to connect to the reader
• Uses language that is meant to be easily understood

View an example from the Journal of General Physiology here.

Based on my research, I would say that an editorial is an article that is meant to give the author's view on something, as well as to connect with a larger variety of readers on a more personal level than say, a scientific article.

Kelly, Erin. "Couple Reading Books" 03/30/2012 via flickr. Attribution license.

The Review

• Is an explanation of something that happened/happens
• Is much more scientific
• Is written in a very formal, methodical way

View an example here.

Based on the above information, I would say the the review is a summary of a process that is explained in a very technical way for a much more educated, technical audience.

Research Articles

• Includes 7 main parts: abstract, introduction, materials/methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, and references.
• Apart from the abstract, is written in very technical language
• Is written to explain a process

View an example here.

Based on the information above, my definition of a research article would be an article that explains the entire process of a research project or an experiment that the author has been a part of to experts on the topic, or people with a particularly scientific background.