Download - Get your head around journals!
How using journal articles can help you succeed in your studies!
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Let’s start with why journals are great!
Journal articles
provide specialised information on a topic
which means they’re useful for essays, dissertations, and seminar preparation
Journal articles
are much shorter than books
and give you access to the latest thinking on a subject
Using good quality journal articles in your work
is likely to get you better marks!
So what is a journal?
So what is a journal?
A journal
tends to have content focussed around a particular subject or area of interest
and is published at regular intervals, for example weekly, monthly, or quarterly
Like these, for example
The New Law Journal is published weekly
American Mathematical Monthly speaks
for itself
And these come out quarterly, ie 4 times a year
What’s in a journal?
What’s in a journal?
Articles!
Each issue of a journal contains a number of individual articles, like chapters of a book
Articles!
Usually they cover different topics within the same subject area
Sometimes they concentrate on a particular topic, but are written by different specialists
Each article
is either based on original research or experimentation
or reviews research or books written by others
Here’s a typical table of contents of a journal issue
Except this one is a special issue where all the articles are about poison frogs
What’s the difference between print and online journals?
Online
can be accessed easily anywhere with an internet connection
Online
articles can be read online
Online
or downloaded to your own computer, mobile or tablet
can be consulted in the Library (only postgrads and staff can borrow journals)
articles can be photocopied or scanned
What are the elements of a journal?
We’ve already mentioned the word issue a couple of times...
We’ve already mentioned the word issue a couple of times...
article
volume
issue
journal
database?
Volume
Most journals will have a volume number that covers all the parts published in one year
Vol. 86, 2013 Vol. 87, 2014
Issue
The part of a journal that is published weekly, monthly, and so on, is called an issue and will also be numbered
Vol. 86 (3), 2013Vol. 86 (4), 2013
Pages
Page numbering often continues across all the issues published in one year,so you can see some pretty high page numbers
What does a reference to a journal article look like?
Article references
In a bibliography or reading list you may come across something like this:
Article references
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
Article references
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
= author
Article references
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
= article title
Article references
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
= journal title
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
= volume and issue
Article references
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
= publication date
Article references
Article references
Brown, Jason L., “Neotropical poison frogs: evolution’s guide to parenting, fashion and communication in a dynamic world”, Evolutionary Ecology, 27 (4), July 2013, 655–659
= pages
Here’s the same article when you look it up in the database Web of Science, where the components are a lot clearer
Article references
Are some journals better than others?
Academic journals
contain articles that have been written by academics for an audience of other scholars
such articles are often peer-reviewed, ie quality checked by other academics
This means you can be sure
the information in academic journals is of high quality
Is that why I shouldn’t just use Google?
Yes.
Google vs Library content
A web search may turn up the occasional good quality article that you can freely download
but most important academic journals are only available via subscription by your Library
Google vs Library content
That means the Library website and catalogue are your surest way to high quality, peer-reviewed journal articles
www.kent.ac.uk/library/resources
catalogue.kent.ac.uk
How do I find good journal articles for my assignment?
Databases
Whatever you are studying, there will be key databases of journal articles for you to search
Databases
Your Library subject guide recommends the best databases to get started
www.kent.ac.uk/library/subjects
Need help?
Just ask!
Visit the Templeman Library IT & Library Support Desk
or email [email protected]
The Academic Liaison Team will be happy to help if you need more specialised support
www.kent.ac.uk/library/als
Image credits
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Other photos: taken in the Templeman LibraryScreenshots: from University of Kent subscribed e-resources
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/4312413546/flipped and editedCreative Commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en_GB
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