One way to evaluate the article you have in front of you is to review the journal, magazine, or paper it has been published in.

Different types of journals, magazines, and papers - a guide

	Academic journal	Industry/branch journal	Popular science magazine	Newspaper
Examples of covers
Appearance	Sober cover; rarely contains images, ads or colour prints; covers look very similar	Cover picture; breezy layout and colour prints; branch-related ads	Catchy covers and headlines; shiny paper; a lot of pictures; mixed ads	Low-quality paper, a lot of pictures, many short texts, mixed ads
Contents	Journal articles describing research; clearly structured articles with similar disposition; might contain tables and diagrams	Varied contents; short notices mixed with longer articles; product information; news	Varied contents; short notices mixed with longer articles; ads	Varied contents, articles, interviews, debates, letters to the editor, etc.; ads
Authors	Researchers or experts; usually several authors per article; peer-reviewed articles	The articles can be written by journalists knowledgeable on the topic, people active in the industry, or sometimes by researchers	Journalists with a special interest in the topic; in rare cases, researchers	Journalists
Language	Advanced academic language, often in English	Industry-specific jargon, not academic	Some use of specific terms, difficult words are often explained	Everyday language
Level	The reader is expected to be knowledgeable on the topic	The reader is expected to know about the industry	The reader is expected to have some prior knowledge on the topic	The reader can be anyone
Target audience	Other researchers in a specific field	People working in the industry	The interested general public	The general public
References	Extensive references, both in text and in long reference lists at the end	References are rarely given in-text, but sources might be provided at the end	Rarely any references, might include tips for further reading	Rarely any references
Availability	Often only accessible through libraries or specific databases; open access journals are available freely on the internet	Libraries, databases, the internet, or through a private subscription	Libraries, the internet, private subscription, or as single copies in store	Libraries, the internet, private subscription, or as single copies in store
Reference example (APA)	Miksa, J. (2013). Religia i granice uprawnień instytucji państwa wobec jednostki w filozofii Immanuela Kanta. Etyka, 46, 50-64.	Brown, G. (2010). Root growth and potential tree productivity after a cold wet spring. Australian Fruitgrower, 4(7), 18-21.	Ciriello, G. (2020). One size does not fit all for mutational signatures. Nature Cancer, 1, 158-159.	English, R. & Martin, A. (2020, 23 February). ’They’ve lost all perspective’: Palace insider blasts Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for ’sniping’ at Queen over ’Royal’ branding, but admit her aides were not ’unduly surprised’. Daily Mail. Retrieved 2020-02-24, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
Publishing	A few volumes per year (often 4-6)	Every month or week	Every month or week	Every day
How can I use this type of article in my work?	When you need current research to support your arguments. To find theories based on research	When you want to know what is happening in the industry, trends, current questions, practical information, etc.	Background knowledge, if you need basic information, or want to see how the topic is portrayed in popular science	To give a background to your research topic, if you want to see how a topic is treated by media, if you want to analyse debates, etc.