There are numerous situations when reading articles from popular sources might serve to introduce you to a topic and how that topic is addressed in society. In most cases, articles from popular sources:
are published for a general audience by journalists or professional authors
written in a language that the broader public can understand
They rarely contain a bibliography; instead, they are fact-checked throughout the editorial process of the magazine in which they appear.
They do not presuppose prior knowledge of a subject area; as a result, they are frequently quite useful to read if you don't know a lot about your subject area yet.
may include an argument, viewpoint, or analysis of a problem
