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Law

Journals Introduction

Academic Journals and Articles 

A journal is a collection of articles, written by different people.  A journal will focus on a topic or subject and the articles published within it all relate to that topic.  They are published at regular intervals and can be a key source of research and academic information.

There are several different types of journal that you can access:

  • Academic/scholarly journals - these include research and are often peer reviewed (other experts in the field evaluate the article before it is accepted for publication to ensure quality is maintained).
  • Trade or professional magazines - aimed at people interested in or working in a particular area.  Often include articles, reviews, features and news.

  What is an article?

Journals are made up of articles, these are  individual pieces of research written by an academic, professional or expert on a particular subject or topic.  They are published together with other articles by other authors in a journal.  However, they don’t go into as much detail as books.  

What is a Journal / Article

question mark What is a journal?

  • A collection of articles relating to a particular topic

  • Published regularly (e.g. once a month, quarterly, annually) 
     

What is an article?

  • An individual piece of research written by an academic, professional or expert

  • Published together with other articles by other authors in a journal

Why use Journal Articles

large tick icon Why use journal articles?

  • Include the latest research and up-to-date
  • Cover very specific topics
  • Quality checked during a peer review process
  • List references used - good source for further research
  • Search for specific articles online 

Finding Articles on a Topic

  How do I find journal articles?
 

The most relevant legal journal articles are included in our eResources: ​Westlaw, LexisLibrary and the Law Journal Library, with i-law for maritime legal articles.  

You can search for articles by topic/subject.

These eResources contain many fulltext articles but all have different content, so you are advised to search more than one.

You will find that these eResources include some article abstracts (just a brief summary) and the full article may not be available for all of your results. Search for the title of the Journal (not the article!) on the Library Catalogue to see if we have a subscription. Some journals may be available in full on other eResources, or as printed journals in the Law Library.

For other journal articles, try the Articles tab on the Library Catalogue:

  • Enter your search terms
  • Refine your results using the Peer-reviewed Journals option (this then lists articles from the most scholarly journals)
  • Use Available online to see where you can access the article 
  • Check the access instructions and then GO!  

 

The Articles tab is very general and you may get a lot of results which are not relevant. 

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a search engine that allows you to search for more academic content on the web.  You can use it to track down journal articles, book details and more.  You can set it up to show you which results you can access via a Solent University library subscription.
 

Link to full text content from Solent University Library

This will tell you if the Library has a copy of the article for you to read or not.  To set this up on your device:

  • In Scholar, click on the icon in the top left corner:  menu icon
  • Select Settings and then select 'Library Links'.  Enter 'Solent' in the search box then select Solent University - Is it @ Solent and Save. 
  • Any results available via Solent will now show this link to give you access: ​​is it @solent icon

OFF CAMPUS: You must check the access information for each article via the Is It @ Solent screens and login to view. 

Send reference details to RefWorks

Set up a link to 'Import into RefWorks' for each result in your list.  To set this up, go into the menu icon menu, select Settings and in the 'Bibliography Manager' section, select RefWorks and save.
 

Basic and Advanced search
Enter your search terms into the Basic search box.  If you want more control over your search, you can access the Advanced search via the menu icon icon.
Results list
Your results list will include a number of options for each result where you can view other items that might be of interest, mark the item to read later and send the reference to RefWorks etc.

import to refworks button on ribbon in word.

  • Select the 'star' save icon to add the article to your 'My library'.
  • Cited by: links you to other resources which have referenced (cited) that document.
  • Related articles: see a list of other articles you may be interested in.
  • Import into RefWorks: send the reference details into RefWorks (or use the option under the speach marks icon  to send to RefWorks).

My Library
Sign in and access articles you have saved.  Save articles by clicking on the star icon beside it in the results list.

Journals: Test your knowledge?

Guided Learning Activity