Rhetorical Analysis of an Acedemic Journal

    The library didn't carry print copies of any of the journals I looked at in my last post so I chose to examine the American Journal of Physics.

 
    This journal seems to have an interesting policy with its authors.  The authors are listed only by name and place of work.  More interesting, is the variety of authors.  Most of the authors are from US universities, but some are from abroad.  One article even has several high school authors.

    The primary audience of this journal is people teaching physics at the graduate and undergraduate levels.  The content tells how to teach various subjects and explains the same for people with a background in physics though not necessarily in the specific field.  The secondary audience is teachers and students reading to broaden their understanding of various fields.

    The only major current event that I think may have affected this issue is that the journal is seeking a new editor.  I wasn't able to detect any effect this had on the journal.

  I think that this journal exists to better physics teaching.  From the non-expert level of required background to the inclusion of high school authors,  The entire journal seems to say "you can learn/teach anything in physics".