Journals are regular (serial) publications that publish the outcome of original research and are aimed at other researchers or practitioners. They can be general covering economics as a discipline, or focus on a specific topic.
Journal articles are essays that present new research, or discuss new developments in the field. As such, they focus on in depth analysis of specific issues.
Journal articles undergo peer-review, which is a process of review by experts in the field (peers). It is aimed at validating the research prior to publication of an article, ensuring quality, originality, contribution to the knowledge base, and authority in a research article.
Working papers and pre-prints are pre-publication journal articles and book chapters. They are published early to disseminate research and generate discussion. Working papers may undergo revision and therefore have different versions. Working papers and pre-prints have not undergone peer review.
Journals and journal articles can be found using Library Search, however it does not discover content, so journal or bibliographic databases are preferred for advanced literature searching.
Journal databases index and abstract articles in specific journals. Some are general and index journals across a range of disciplines, and others are subject specific and index only philosophy, politics or economics journals.
Journal databases are not always full-text: some will include the full-text article, but others will provide an abstract (summary) only. If journal articles are not available, the library has a document supply service.
Some journal databases provide citation information, which allows researcher to measure the usage and impact of articles in their research field, and to find related academic literature. Citation databases can be useful, but they are general in scope, and do not index a wide range of social science journals.
Scopus
Indexes 25,000+ worldwide, peer reviewed journals and conference papers from 1970. Includes citations to measure impact and find related literature. Focus on sciences but also covers arts, humanities and social sciences.
Web of Science
Indexes 22,000+ worldwide, peer reviewed journals and conference papers from 1900. Includes citations to measure impact and find related literature. Focus on sciences, but also covers arts, humanities and social sciences.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Indexes 2,500 worldwide political science (and related subjects) journals, books and dissertations from 1975. Includes economics, environment, government, international relations, military, law and religion.
International Political Science Abstract
Index to scholarly journal articles on political science published from 1989 to date. Includes political science, political sociology, political psychology, international relations, international law, human rights, conflict studies, ethnic studies and other related fields.
PhilPapers
An index of research literature in philosophy including 2,800,000+ journal articles, books and open access archives. Also includes a structured bibliography of 5,000+ topics in philosophy, and a current awareness service alerting researchers to new publications.
Philosopher's Index
Index to scholarly research on philosophy from 1940 to date, including books and articles from 680+ philosophy journals. Published by the Philosopher's Information Centre.
Westlaw UK
Legal Journals Index indexes 800+ law journals published in the UK and Europe from 1986. Focus on UK law, but also covers European and International law. Also includes selected full-text journal articles.
Lexis+ UK
Indexes 500+ law journals, including 120+ full-text journals. Focus on UK law, but includes foreign legal journals from Australia, Canada, France, India and United States jurisdictions.
HeinOnline
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals indexes 750+ legal journals and reviews published worldwide. Focus on foreign, comparative and international law. Also includes selected full-text journal articles
Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations
The Cardiff Index is an open access database of legal abbreviations from 10,000+ global law report and law journal publications from Cardiff University. Search by abbreviation to understand citations and find full-text titles, or search by title to find the preferred abbreviations for OSCOLA legal referencing.
For items not available in the library, use our document supply service.
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Discover a range of library and study skills guides including how to study at university, how to think critically, and how to write essays and prepare for examinations.
Discover how to find legislation, case law and journal articles using law databases, including Doing Legal Research online course, and Lexis+ UK and Westlaw UK law database training and certification courses.
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