Continuing Education

• Journals are published on a regular basis
• Usually includes an abstract/summary
• Often report on original research
• Cite other works and have lists of references
• Articles are lengthy usually >10 pages
• Author(s) are researchers, professors, subject experts and credentials are provided
• Journal focuses on a specific field of study
• Written for academic audience
• Available in print or online

         Click for example

• Trade publications are published on a regular basis
• Trade publications are written for those involved in a specific industry or trade
• Trade articles are written about specific industries, trades or products
• Articles are shorter usually a few pages in  length
• No list of references
• Often have glossy images
• Available in print or online

• Magazines are published on a regular basis
• Magazines are written for the general public
• Magazine articles are written about topics of general interest
• Articles are shorter usually a few pages in  length
• No list of references
• Often have glossy images
• Available in print or online

• Published on websites of newspapers, wire services, radio, television
• Written for the general public
• Usually about very current events
• Written by news reporters or may not have an author
• Articles are short
• No references listed
• Often include advertising
• Often invite comments

• Published by newspapers, wire services, radio, television
• Accessible online through databases like Factiva; Canadian Newsstand etc.
• Written for the general public
• Usually about very current events
• Written by news reporters or may not have an author
• No references listed
• No advertising
• No comments invited

• May be hosted by anyone – authoritative sources, news agencies, organizations as well as members of the general public
• Promote discussion on a specific theme/topic/cause
• Comments are invited
• Usually shows an archive of posts
• Posts are often categorized by specific topics

• Prepared by government, corporations, organizations, individuals etc.
• Released to the news media
• Usually making an announcement about a current event, decision or development
• Can be found on an organization's website

• Purpose is to provide the public with information about the company and promote its products or services
• Includes information such as: company history, operations, products/services, executives, investors’ information, news etc.

• Books are available in print and electronic versions
• Accessed through the library catalogue or an e-book aggregator such as Ebrary, Books 24X7 Business Pro; Safari Online

• Chapters in a book may all be written by the author(s) of the book, OR
• a book may be a collection of chapters each written by different author(s) – in this case the book is “edited” by one or more editors
• They may be confused with journal articles - look for the word "Chapter" and note if there is a journal title, volume and issue number at the top or bottom of the page.

• Websites that allow anyone to add, delete or edit content using a web browser
• Searchable by keyword

• Publications provided by publicly-traded companies to their shareholders
• Also called 10-K reports (United States)
• Provide information about operations and detailed financial statements
• May be found on a company website; SEDAR (Canadian companies) or EDGAR (US companies)
• Usually published electronically but many companies also publish a print version

• Published by government departments or agencies
• May be in print or electronic format
• Government documents include legislation, regulations, reports etc.

• Published by business information publishers like Marketline; Mergent; Standard & Poor’s; Business Monitor International; IBISWorld; Euromonitor, etc.
• Provide information at the industry level and usually include market information, statistics, trends, issues, outlook/forecast etc.
• Usually accessed electronically through online business databases

• Written by financial analysts who are affiliated with major investment firms
• These reports are written strictly from an investment point-of-view and include the analyst's recommendations
• May be at the company or industry level
• Usually accessed electronically through the online databases ThomsonONE or Bloomberg

• Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, etc.
• Purpose is to share and exchange information in virtual communities
• All content is user-generated
• “Authored” by businesses, organizations, communities and individuals – authority of the information depends on the author/creator