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How to find journal articles |
What will I learn in this tutorial?In this tutorial you will learn:
NOTE: you will not be shown how to find articles on your topic in detail. To find articles on a topic you need to use CD-ROMs and other databases Why do I need to use journal articles?Journal articles provide current information on specific topics. This is the forum where researchers and commentators first report their findings and ideas. Articles also contain indepth and subject specific research that might not ever be published in a book. In some subjects you will need journal articles to successfully complete your course. Serials is a comprehensive term for journals, magazines, newspapers, reports, conference proceedings, transactions, etc. It can take many months, even years to publish a book and process it to the library shelves; current events may alter the relevance of the contents. Therefore journal articles are often the best way of accessing current information. How can I tell if it's a journal article?Often the articles you need will be listed in the reading lists and handouts you get from your lecturer. In this tutorial you will look for the following articles: Kotter, J. (1982), "What effective general managers really do", Harvard Business Review, 60 (6), Nov-Dec, pp. 156-167 A journal citation can contain the following information:
Often your lecturer will ask you to read articles taken from journals. Sometimes these readings will have been placed on Reserve, sometimes you will be expected to find them yourself. In both cases you need to recognise what you are looking for. Some clues that it is a journal article:
How do I find it in the library?You can search for Monash holdings in the Monash library catalogue. When you find the title you want, note down the library site it is held at, as well as the call number. NOTE: only a very limited number of journal articles will appear in the library catalogue. In most cases to identify journal articles on a topic you will need to use CD-ROMs and other databases. If the article is on a reading list provided by your lecturer, search for the title or author of the article in the catalogue to see if a copy has been placed on Reserve. If the article was not on a reading list, or if there is no copy of the article on Reserve you must locate the serial itself. In order to do this you will need to search for the title of the serial NOT the title of the article. Finding the article on Reserve
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Finding a journal
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What does "Linked resources" mean?Monash subscribes to the full text of many journals online. They are indicated in the library catalogue as "Linked web site". These journals are made available via third party services (such as ProQuest or JSTOR). To find a copy of the article you will need to search for it within the third party service, either by the title of the article, or the title of the serial. You will then be able to save a copy to a disk or print it out. You may need to verify your status as a Monash user by providing your Authcate user name and password. See http://lib.monash.edu/databases/ for details on accessing specific resources. Using linked resourcesNOTE: this example uses ABI/Inform via ProQuest. Users may need their AuthCate password
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How can I find out which other libraries have a copy?Places to check to see if other libraries hold the journal you want:
How can I get a copy if Monash doesn't have one?Page removed, out of date, investigate Services and facilities How can I find other articles on my topic?To locate articles relevant to your research topic you will need to use periodical indexes, which may be in print, but increasingly are in electronic format. Journal indexes can be searched by topic and will provide a list of articles which you can then look up. They may provide an abstract (summary) of the article as well, but in general they will not provide the whole article. Electronic indexes are known by several other names: electronic databases, CD-ROMs or online databases. There are many different software programs that can be used to search in databases, but the principles involved are usually similar. Remember these indexes are commercial publications; there is no guarantee that Monash will hold the publications indexed. Evaluating what you findWhile you are looking for information think about whether it is really relevant to the question you are trying to answer. If it does seem relevent you need to think critically about the information to ensure that you are using the most appropriate material for your work. The key elements you should look for are:
Acknowledging what you've readIt is essential that you acknowledge what you have read to protect yourself against charges of plagiarism. Proper acknowledgement is also important:
The important things to remember about acknowledging your sources:
SummaryThe key things to remember about finding journal articles are:
If you need more help contact the library. |
from the top menu bar. Your searching will be done using the catalogue interface although some search options may not be available. Alternatively, to link directly to these and many other catalogues and databases, select "Databases" or "Library Catalogues" from the options at the bottom of any library catalogue page.