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Journals

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Journal collections

A journal is defined as a publication appearing usually at regular intervals in a numbered sequence. Sometimes journals are referred to as serials or periodicals. They are available in all the individual libraries of the University Library. Types of journals include those publishing research articles, 'reviews' journals that include articles reviewing a subject, journals concerned with news or current affairs, and annual reports of bodies or institutions. In some subjects, especially the sciences, most research is published as articles in journals.

How to locate a particular journal

Use Quick search > Journals on the Library home page to search the eJournals catalogue and the Library Catalogue for print journals

  • eJournals catalogue (also available in Quick search and as Find eJournal in MetaLib)
    use this to find out if we have access to the electronic version of a particular journal and link to it. Search for the title of the journal and not the title of the journal article. Notes:
    • Journal title abbreviations can be searched for (in the exact option you must include the full title or full abbreviated title).
    • The link on the eJournal Catalogue will take you to the journal's home page. Normally you will be able to zero-in on the article you want by using either a search facility or by browsing for the volume, issue and page in your reference. Sometimes you will need to find a 'previous issues', 'archive' or 'available issues' link to access these. Different publishers use different approaches. Once you have found the particular journal article that you want you will usually have the option of looking at a summary or abstract of the article, or the full-text of the article as a PDF file (sometimes html, or other format).
    • If you find the journal on the eJournals catalogue but we don't have online access to the volume/year you need, the Get it! button will provide you with a quick way of checking the Library Catalogue for what we have in print. 
    • Access to many electronic journals is restricted to IP addresses of PCs on campus only. To use these off-site see the advice and details on our access to external electronic library resources and databases page. 
  • Print journals on the Library Catalogue (also available in Quick search)
    use this to find out if we have holdings of the print version of a particular journal and the location.  Notes:
    • Remember to search for the title of the journal and not the title of the journal article.
    • Abbreviated journal titles will work if you include * at the end of each word stem (but don't include j* as it finds too much), eg internat* econ*. Often this will work with 'Find in all fields' but you could be more specific and select 'Title contains' or 'Journal title contains'.
    • If you find to many hits, you could use the 'Field to search' drop-down to be more specific. The 'Journal title begins' option is particularly useful for journal titles such as ‘Science’ or ‘History’. You must enter the full beginning of the title, ie 'journal of the australian'.
    • On the Results List page of the Library Catalogue, use the library link to go to the Holdings page where you should check the Vols. in library statement in bold at the top first, as the list of individual volumes shown underneath may not be comprehensive.

Where we do not have full text access or print holdings in the University Library you may need to investigate the Inter-Library Loan service.

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How to find a journal article

If you have found a journal article reference on a database which has our Get it! buttons, the quickest way to view the full text, if we have access, or check print holdings details on our Library Catalogue, is to use the Get it! button:

  • If we have electronic access, the link from the Get it! menu will in many cases take you to the particular journal article on the Journal's website.  However, the way that some publishers have set up their website sometimes prevents this direct linking, and the Get it! link may only take you to the journal's home page. Normally you will be able to zero-in on the article you want by using either a search facility or by browsing for the volume, issue and page in your reference. Sometimes you will need to find a 'previous issues', 'archive' or 'available issues' link to access these. Different publishers use different approaches. Once you have found the particular journal article that you want you will usually have the option of looking at a summary or abstract of the article, or the full-text of the article as a PDF file (sometimes html, or other format).
  • Access to many electronic journals is restricted to IP addresses of PCs on campus only. To use these off-site see the advice and details on our access to external electronic library resources and databases page.
  • If you find the journal on the Library Catalogue, use the library name link to go to the Holdings page where you should check the 'Vols. in library' statement in bold at the top first, as the list of individual volumes shown underneath may not be comprehensive. If you have problems finding a journal article please ask library staff for help.
  • If the journal article is not held in print in the University Library or accessible electronically you may need to investigate the Inter-Library Loan service.

If you only have the journal article reference, you should follow the instructions above of how to locate a particular journal using the title of the journal and not the title of the journal article. Once you have found the journal online or in print in the library you will then need to look for the year, volume, and page number to find the article itself. Alternatively, you could look for the article on the 'Quick search for Articles via MetaLib' option of Quick search > Articles & Databases on the Library home page or on one of the databases (these can be accessed through MetaLib) that has Get it!

If you have the journal article's DOI (Digital Object Identifier) reference, you can use the DOI search box on the eJournals catalogue find options to access the articles using Get it!

The only exception to the above is when you wish to search for a journal article that is kept in a Short Loan Collection. These are the only journal articles listed on the catalogue that can be found by searching for the article's title or author.

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How to find journal articles on a subject

To find journal articles on a subject, you will probably have to use one or more of the databases, abstracts or indexes which can be accessed via Quick search > Articles & Databases on the Library home page or directly via MetaLib. The Library Catalogue and eJournals catalogue do not have details of the individual articles in the journals we hold. The search functions on journal publishers’ websites (a list of some of the key ones is available) can also be used, but they will only find journal articles published in the journals of that publisher.

Once you find journal article references on a database, see how to find a journal article above for details of how to get hold of the full text.  

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