Researching with journal articles

Journal articles are published more frequently than other academic resources; as such they contain more up to date information. You can check the volume/issue/date details to see how recently an article was published.

Begin by reading the article’s abstract to see if it is relevant to your topic. Once you find an article that is relevant, you can use it as a jumping off point for further research. The information contained in the article can help you to branch out and identify more relevant resources.

Often you will find journal articles online through Library Search or specific research databases. Sometimes the page you view the article on will look like an HTML website. You can usually find a download link to a PDF file of the article too. The webpage and the PDF file will have slight differences, so it can be useful to view both.

Click on the buttons below to see how each part of a journal article can help you branch out to more useful resources in your research.