Academic Discourse and Genre

Now that I've found a journal to analyze more closely (the New England Journal of Medicine's latest volume, published in February 2016), I wanted to browse through it and get a sense of the different genres found within. Here's what I found:

• There appear to be three different primary genres in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

• The heart of the issue represents 'Journal Articles' which are full-length submissions to the journal that include an introduction, experimental section, a results and a full discussion about cutting-edge research being performed by medical researchers. 

• At the beginning of the journal are News Stories, which are typically written in a journalistic format targeting a wider, more general audience that appreciates medical news updates. A reader interested in the news stories won't necessarily be able to follow the more in-depth research papers found in the journal articles. 

• After News Stories are presented, but prior to the Journal articles, are a series of 'Letters' to the Journal, which represent long abstracts of ongoing research. This is usually slightly more current work that is still being performed and hasn't been fully analyzed. Rather than a full manuscript being presented, these usually just include major details of what has so far been discovered in an ongoing clinical trial. 

• So, what defines these genres? A Journal Article seems to me to be primarily defined by its ability to encapsulate the entire scientific process. A Journal Article's experiment can be replicated by anyone because the experimental section is outlined in detail. These are the type of experiments that can ultimately get aggregated in a literature review. A New Story, in contrast, is more like a quick reference guide or headline story for a layman audience. It is defined by its accessibility, its short paragraph structure, and its author is typically not the principle investigator of the study. Finally, a Letter resembles a short article, but it highlights primarily the conclusions that can be drawn from an ongoing study. It is the most cutting edge, but it is not fully replicable because an experimental section is not necessarily included.