Using journals

What is a journal?Why use them?How do I find them?How do I find out what’s in them?What about referencing?

What is a journal?

According to the Concise OED “a newspaper or magazine dealing with a particular subject”

Also called Serials, Periodicals.Published daily, weekly, monthly,

quarterly……Divided into volumes, parts and issues

Different types of journals

NewspapersPopular magazines aimed at the general

reader e.g. BBC Wildlife MagazineSerious scholarly publications containing

accounts of research projects or theories where articles are reviewed by other academics e.g. Royal Society of Chemistry journals

Why use them?

Good source of up to date material – or contemporary material

Research published more quickly in a journal than in a book.

Good source of more specialised material

Not everything makes it into a book

How do you find good ones to use?

Use Subject guides Library Catalogue Digital Library “find

e-journals” Recommendations Browsing

How do I get at the content?

Use Indexes and Databases.

Most are in the Digital Library

References to journal articles

Will contain Title and Author (s) of the Article

Title of the journalThe year of publication The Volume Number, Part and/or Issue

of journalPage numbers of Article

Article you want not in the Library?

Use Inter Library Loan (ILL)

Request form on the Library Catalogue

£1.00 per item Article sent direct to

your mailing address

Remember copyright ……

As a general rule, you are allowed to copy ONE article from any one issue of a journal.

Referencing

Guides available on the Library web site

HarvardOSCOLA (Law)APA

(Psychology)