Finding resources: Journal articles

Journal articles are short papers, usually written on a narrow topic area. Published in academic magazines called journals, they are published on a regular basis such monthly, bi-monthly, annually etc.

Journal articles are a great resource for specific subject topics and give more detail than a textbook. They also usually contain more up to date information providing debate analysis, and case studies to comment upon and cite in essays.

Most of the published articles in academic journals have been peer reviewed. This is a quality control process to maintain academic standards. A panel of experts in the relevant field review all submitted articles and only accept articles that are considered accurate and meet the publishing criteria of a specific publication. The expert panel may request the author(s) to resubmit their article, often multiple times, before it is finally approved for publication.

You will also find additional content in journals that has not been peer reviewed such as reviews, editorials, opinion columns etc.

In most databases, there is a filter to limit your searches to peer reviewed articles.

A typical academic journal article will have the following structure:

• Abstract – Summary at the beginning of an article.
• Introduction – Why they are doing this research. Contains relevant context (previous research in the field and the current understanding of the topic) and introduces the research question.
• Literature review – A review of the current and most relevant literature to the study.
• Methods – Description of how the authors collected and analysed their data to answer their research question.
• Results – What they found. Describes the outcomes of the data analysis. Usually includes text and visuals (charts and graphs).
• Discussion – What the authors think the results mean. Should provide an interpretation of their findings and answer/relate to their original question.
• Conclusion – Outline future implications/actions and outcomes of the research. Provides an overview of the findings.
• References – A list of sources cited in the article.

There are several options to find journal articles.

Use Locate, the Library catalogue, and select journal articles from the drop-down menu on the search bar to find online journal articles. Search the books or more option to find a specific journal title, such as the Harvard Business Review. 

There are also subject databases recommended on your ;Subject Guide. Using a database directly will retrieve more focused results and is a better use of your time when researching a specific topic.

Google Scholar is an additional source to consider. Linking Google Scholar to Locate will find full-text articles available to you from the Library databases. Learn how to search Google Scholar more efficiently from the Google Scholar Guide.