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You already know that one of these journals is more appropriate for research than the other.
You already know that JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association,
is a more reputable, credible, and scholarly source for health information than the magazine Health.
You know that articles in JAMA are written by experts (doctors and audiologists and nurse practitioners and
other people with advanced degrees) for other experts and professionals (that’s you guys).
You know that you won’t see JAMA on the newsstand in Walmart or the grocery store; rather, you’ll have to go the library to find a
journal like JAMA.
You know that the articles in JAMA tend to be long – with many articles between 7 and 15 pages in length.
You know that the articles themselves do not include glossy, flashy photos of celebrities,
but rather graphs and charts to demonstrate data.
You know that there aren’t a lot of advertisements in JAMA,
and those that do exist are only advertisements in which medical practitioners would be interested.
Articles in Health magazine are written by journalists –
who are experts at being journalists – for a very wide, general, public audience;
Health magazine can be found on most any newsstand,
is full of short articles with multiple pretty photographs and illustrations,
and there are as many advertisements in the magazine as there are articles.
Why, then, should professionals such as yourself, still read magazines like Health?
Because health magazines can lead you to the original research study on a current topic of interest to your patients and clients.
And many times those five- or six-line articles will lead you to the original research article.
For instance, here is the July/August 2011 issue of Health magazine.
And notice one of the articles we’ll find inside.
Flip to that article and we find that this is one of the secrets.
Notice where the article states: “…according to a study in The Journal of *** Medicine.”
Later in the article, the lead author is mentioned.
With these two pieces of information, we can go find the reputable, reliable, scholarly journal to find the original research article.
JAMA looks, talks, and acts like a more reputable source of information than Health magazine;
JAMA is a more reputable source of information because it is a peer-reviewed journal.