Periodicals
Periodical is a generic term referring to publications which are released on a regular basis. There are three main kinds of periodical:
- journals
- magazines
- newspapers
Journals contain scholarly articles, providing current information on research and developments in a particular subject field. Main features are:
- contain articles written by scholars or experts in a specific field (eg. psychology)
- are often peer reviewed (evaluated by experts and found to be worthy of publication)
- include an abstract at the beginning of each article
- include references
- are generally very plain
- provide contact details for the author
Magazines are designed for general reading and contain articles on various topics by different authors. Main features include:
- a glossy cover to attract the casual reader
- lots of advertising
- short articles (compared to a journal)
- lots of photographs
- authors may or may not have any expertise on the topic
Newspapers are designed to provide current information on local, national & international issues. Main features include:
- frequent publication - constantly updated online
- lots of advertising
- articles generally written by journalists, rather than subject experts
- lots of photographs
Journals
Journals are the most likely type of periodical to support your research.
They provide information that is:
- Timely: usually daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly and are therefore more up to date than books .
- Concise: their articles are briefer than books.
- Authoritative: Subject specialists generally write journal articles. Before publication many are peer reviewed or refereed by other experts in the field. This means that articles that have undergone this screening process should be of a high standard.
How do you find relevant journal articles on your topic?
The library catalogue does not list individual articles published in journals, only the journal title. So, if you know the journal title use the catalogue. However, if you need to find articles relevant to your topic you will need to search a database.