How to Locate Articles  in Journals & Magazines

What Are Periodicals?

Periodicals (or serials) are continuous publications such as journals, magazines, or newspapers, issued regularly, either daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
The Library Catalog includes location and call numbers, and links to online versions if available, for all the periodicals available at Western. Select "Journal Titles"  and type in the title of the journal in the search box on the Library homepage. Remember, the catalog does not index articles within those periodicals.

Why Use Periodical Articles?

Current research is most often published in serial literature before it is published in books. Periodical articles often provide the only access to currently published research, discussion and debate.

Finding Articles in Periodicals

To find an article within a magazine or journal, use either electronic or print indexes.  Indexes are searchable by subject; online indexes may also be searched by keyword(s), words in the article title,
 or by author, and may be limited to a specific date range or to a specific journal. Periodical indexes provide a "citation" [see step 3], which is bibliographic information identifying the journal title, the author, volume and date, to assist with locating the article.  Many, particularly online indexes, also provide an abstract or summary of the article.  Some indexes include full-text of the article.

Step 1. Determine what kind of periodical you want.

• Scholarly journals?
• Popular press magazines?
• Newspapers and substantive news sources?
• A combination?

• It provides footnotes or a bibliography
• It is written by a researcher or expert in the field
• The author is usually affiliated with a college or university
• It reports on original research or experimentation
• It may be published by a scholarly professional association or university press
• It has graphs and charts as illustrations
• It has few glossy pictures or advertising

 How to identify a Popular Press article:
 
• It rarely provides documentation (footnotes or bibliography)
• It is often written to entertain, or to provide an overview of information
• It does not state the qualifications of the author
• It is often published by commercial enterprises
• It includes pictures or photographs, often is slick in appearance
• Information is reported second or third hand

Under Articles &  Databases, select a subject (such as Anthropology, Art, Business, Communication, etc.) from the drop down list to locate recommended databases, or,
search Find article databases by name to search the list of online indexes & databases that are available at the Western Libraries.

To find articles from scholarly or research journals, use subject specific online or print indexes located in Reference, Government Information, or the Music Library.
To find articles in popular press magazines, use ProQuest or the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, Ref. AI3.R4.
To find articles in newspapers, select Newspapers and Newspaper Research Guides.

Step 3. Interpret the citation.

Electronic indexes usually label each field (or component) of the citation; print indexes generally do not. Each bibliographic citation contains the following information:

 The following is a sample citation:
Perman, Stacy. "Dow Jones takes stock".   Time,   150      (25)     Dec. 15, 1997,  66,           1.
       author               title of article             source,   vol.#,   issue #,     date,        page,     # pages
 

Locating Specific Journals, Magazines & Newspapers at the Western Libraries

Select "Journal Titles"  and type in the title of the journal in the search box on the Library homepage.  Drop articles A and The which precede the first word of the title.

Titles which are provided online in full-text  are linked from the Find Item screen.
Select We have: Full Text Online . 

For titles in print, select We have: A copy in the library - Library Catalog
The entry shows the location, call number, and volumes/dates owned. If a current subscription is maintained, the record indicates it as 1980 -, for example. 

If the title is not owned by the Western Libraries and is not accessible in full-text online, you may request the article online by selecting Use Interlibrary Loan / Document Delivery Services .  The libraries will obtain a copy of the article for you.
 

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Last updated:  September 13, 2007
Page created by Robyn Adcox
Reference Specialist, the Western Libraries