Journal vs Article

Ancient man told his stories through painting and by orally passing them down to his descendants. When he started to interact with people from other places and to trade with them, he turned to writing. It provided him with a more reliable means of keeping records and transmitting information.

It was originally meant to record historical events and to maintain financial records. Today, there are many forms of writing. Writing is used as entertainment (novels and fairy tales), in education (encyclopedias and textbooks), and it is also used to record events and state facts about people, places, and other topics (articles and journals).

An article is defined as a nonfictional literary composition which is published in print or electronic medium. It has three types, namely; text (news, academic paper, blog, marketing, Usenet), spoken (audio recordings or podcasts), and listicles (contain lists).

It is composed of:

• Headline, which specifies what the article is about and is located at the top of each article.

• Byline, which states the name and title of the writer.

• Lead, which guides the reader and is intended to catch their attention.

• Body, which provides details about the subject of the article which may be a list, a narrative, an interview, or any other form.

• Conclusion, which may be a quote, a summary, a descriptive scene, or a play on the lead.

The word “article” comes from the Latin word “articulus” which means “small joint” and the Old French word “article” which means “separate parts of anything written.” Its first use to mean literary composition was in 1712.

The word “journal,” on the other hand, comes from the Latin word “diurnalis” which means “daily.” It reached the English language through the Anglo-French word “jurnal” which means “a day.” Its first recorded use to describe a daily record of transactions was in the mid-16th century.

Today, a journal is used to refer to a daily record of business or events such as accounting journals and diaries. It may also mean periodicals such as newspapers and other publications such as magazines and scholarly journals.

Scholarly journals are also called open access journals that are available on the Internet and are financed by the government or an academic institution. Business and accounting journals are used in bookkeeping and to record the transactions of a business.

Summary:

1. An article is a published nonfictional literary work while a journal refers to a daily record of events or business as well as to periodicals like newspapers and magazines.
2. Journals are usually kept personally by its author (diaries) or owners (accounting journals); they can be viewed or read for a fee (magazines) or for free at websites or libraries while articles are usually written for publication wherein the writer is paid for his article.
3. An article may be composed as text, in audio form, or as listings while a journal cannot be made in audio form.
4. The word “article” comes from the Latin word “articulus” while the word “journal” comes from the Latin word “diurnalis.”

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