Academic vs. Non Academic: What's the Difference? - -https://www.midmich.edu/student-resources/lls/library/find-articles/academic-articles

Academic articles are written by professionals in a given field. They are edited by the authors' peers and often take years to publish. Their language is formal and will contain words and terms typical to the field. The authors name will be present, as will their credentials. There will be a list of references that indicate where the author obtained the information s/he is using in the article.

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Non-Academic articles are written for the mass public. They are published quickly and can be written by anyone. Their language is informal, casual and may contain slang. The author may not be provided and will not have any credentials listed. There will be no reference list. Non-Academic articles can be found in periodicals similar to Time, Newsweek or Rolling Stone.