Your topic is very recent
Articles, especially in newspapers and magazines, are intended to keep people up-to-date on the latest development in various issues, so they are very useful if you are tracking new developments and progress of a topic.
Example: The most recent debate and developments surrounding the issue of gay marriage and civil unions

 You need background or overview information
You cannot trace the whole history of an issue in one magazine or journal article!
Example: Causes of the civil war in the United States

 Your topic is very narrow in scope
Sometimes you are interested in something so specific that there will not be whole books written about the topic!
Example: The correlation of SAT scores to college success in the tri-state area

 Your topic covers a long time span
When something has a long history, you may only find one aspect discussed in a magazine or journal article
Example: The impact of Brown vs. Board of Education on the public school system in the US

Written by experts in the field for an audience of their colleagues and are usually published in academic journals.
They are the primary means by which scholars share and debate their discoveries and ideas.
"Peer reviewed" articles are generally considered the best scholarly articles because they have been reviewed by other experts in the field for accuracy before being published.

You might be reading a scholarly article if...

• There is an abstract summarizing the article at the beginning
• There are footnotes throughout the article
• There is a list of references at the end of the article

Most of your academic research sources should consist of scholarly articles.

Good for showing expert opinions and backing up your arguments.

Good for getting in-depth analysis of a topic.

Written for a general audience and published in a magazine.
Magazines are typically published weekly or monthly.

You might be reading a magazine article if...

• There is not a list of sources at the end of the article
• There are photos and/or advertisements in the article

Can be useful for gathering background information on a topic.

Can be good for finding current information on a topic.

Written by journalists for a general audience and published in a newspaper.
Newspapers are typically published daily, or in the case of some local newspapers, weekly.

You might be reading a newspaper article if...

• There is not a list of sources at the end of the article
• The article begins with an indication of the location it was written in and/or about

Good for gathering current, reliable information on a topic.

Can often be considered a "primary source".