What are journal articles?
A journal is a type of academic publication that shares new research and ideas. Similar to magazines, journals are published regularly. This could be every month, every three months (quarterly), or twice a year (biannually).
Each publication is called an issue, and several issues from the same year are grouped together into a volume.
Inside each issue, you will find journal articles. These are short pieces of writing by researchers and scholars from universities or research institutions. Journal articles usually focus on current research and discoveries in a specific academic field, such as Planning.
Finding journal articles:
If you want to do a quick and simple search for journal articles, use Library Search or an ejournal package such as Science Direct or JSTOR. They will usually allow you to access the articles online immediately.
If you want to carry out a comprehensive search of the research literature, you should use one or more of the key databases (on the next tab) instead. The databases cover many more articles and offer better search features.
The following ejournal packages have papers which are relevant to planning-related topics:
If you can't access an article online, this could be because the university doesn't subscribe to the e-journal in which it was published. In that case, check if the library holds the journal in printed format (also known as "hardcopy"). This is often the case for older journals.
Search for the title of the journal (not the article title!) on Journal Search. If the library holds the journal in printed format, Library Search will show you its location and the shelfmark. If you are not sure where to find the journal, please ask for help at one of the library's information desks.
Journals from previous years are kept in the Journals Back Issues area opposite the main stairs on each floor. Go to:
Floor 1 for shelfmarks A-H
Floor 2 for shelfmarks I-P
Floor 3 for shelfmarks Q-Z
Current journals with shelfmarks A-P are kept on the sloping shelves on Floor 2 but those with shelfmarks Q-Z are kept with the back issues.
Printed journals are shelved on mobile shelving. The video below shows how you can operate the mobile shelves. If you would like help with this, please ask at one of the Enquiry Desks:
Signing in to e-journals from home:
The library's e-journals and databases can be accessed both on and off-campus.
When you are working from off-campus, please follow the links to e-journals from this guide or from Library Search. This will enable you to sign in with your QUB credentials and access e-journals.
If you have queries about accessing e-journals or other e-resources from home, please contact your subject librarian, Irene Bittles (email: i.bittles@qub.ac.uk)
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