Research and Information Skills

Searching electronic

journals

Introduction

Using electronic journals Electronic journals can be found by going to the Search Resources section of the Library website:

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

There are two main types of article search you can undertake using the library web-pages:

• Search for a specific journal article (or articles from a specific publication)

If you are searching for a specific article (or for articles published within a particular journal), you can

easily link to the full-text by using the A-Z listing.

OR

• Search for a range of articles on a topic/subject

You can use the e-journal databases you to search across multiple journal titles for articles. This is the

best way if you are researching a specific topic for an essay, dissertation or project. Each database has

similar search functions but varies in the content of journals included. Some have specialisms, or

particular types, or quantity of journals.

DON’T FORGET: You can access electronic journals from anywhere, not just on campus. To access anywhere

other than the University you will need your University (Central) Username and Password.

Academic journal articles typically contain scholarly writing, relating a particular academic discipline. They can

serve as an introduction for new research findings, or may provide a critique (or new interpretations) of existing

theories or research findings. Articles will typically undergo a “peer-review” process (whereby the article is

reviewed by a number of outside experts) prior to publication – This process ensures that published articles can

be safely considered as part of a reliable body of research and knowledge within that field.

The Internet has revolutionized both the production of, and access to journal articles. In the majority of cases,

individual articles are now made available in electronic format upon publication. These electronic copies are

then added to subject specific, bibliographic databases, which can be accessed over the internet.

The John Rylands University Library (JRUL) subscribes to a wide variety of these subject specialist bibliographic

databases. From these subscriptions we currently provide access to articles from over 40,000 individual journals

(many of which are peer review publications). In the face of such an enormous volume of information sources,

locating the journal articles you need, can initially be a confusing process. Use this guide to help you through the

initial stages of the searching process.

Finding articles by journal / article title

Using the A-Z Listing of Electronic Journal Titles The A-Z of Electronic Journal Titles details all the full text electronic journals held by the JRUL in alphabetical order.

• Access the Electronic Journals A-Z listing via the JRUL Website homepage:

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

• Select Electronic Journals A-Z

• The easiest way to locate the journal title is to use the search engine - Enter your journal title into the search box (located

at the top of the screen) eg: “Journal of American History”

• Matching references will be displayed whereby the journal title contains the words entered into the search box – scroll

down the list until you locate the journal you are searching for.

• Links to bibliographic databases (e.g. History Cooperative & JSTOR), appear underneath the journal title. These links

indicate that the database contains articles from this particular journal. You now need to check the dates covered by each

database, and make the appropriate selection to match your reference (e.g. For 1974 articles from the Journal of

American History you should select JSTOR) - You will be prompted for your username and password if you are off-

campus)

• Once you have followed the database link, details of the journal and its holdings will be displayed. It is possible to look for

available articles either by date, or by volume number and issue.

Using Library Search

• You can also use the Library Search facility to

locate a specific article / issue

• Type the journal title into the Library Search

box (available via the JRUL homepage)

• If the journal is available electronically, then

a link “Electronic Resource” will appear

underneath the individual entry

• Click on this link – You can now enter

individual details of the issue / article you

require (You will need the full reference –

including page numbers – to access and

individual article)

• Click on Go – You will now be taken to the

relevant holdings.

Using the Library Catalogue

• Access the Library Catalogue and click on More

search options

• Enter the Journal Title eg: “Journal of

American History” into the Title field

• Change the “Collection” box to “Journals” -

click “Search”

• The catalogue lists details of both hard copy

journal holdings held in the library and

electronic versions. Look for the reference

stating “Electronic Resource” and click on the

title

• Select the “Full Text from the JRUL Find It

Service” link which appears under the Web

link heading

• You will now be directed to the Find IT service

• Select “Go” to link to the full text journal.

Can’t find it?

• Check the library catalogue to see if the library holds the journal in hard copy. The catalogue will state which library holds

the journal and available dates.

• You can order the journal article via the Document Supply Service. Contact your nearest library for further details.

The JRUL subscribes to over 40,000 electronic journal titles, providing you with a huge volume of information to

navigate. As such, you will need to employ a systematic approach to your subject or literature based searching.

You should follow the 4 key stages outlined below, to construct an effective search strategy. This should help you to

identify articles that are relevant to your research (and will ensure that you are able to make the most of the vast

resources of information that are available to you as a University of Manchester student).

Stage 1: Identify Keywords

The first stage of the search requires you to think very

carefully about WHAT you are actually searching for.

You need to think very carefully about your research

topic, and try to identify 2-3 key terms (keywords), that

best describe the subject.

• Write down a phrase that summarises your

topic eg: “Customer relationship management

in financial services”

• Try to think of the key terms and any

alternative terms eg: Customer Relations,

CRM, financial services, banks, building

societies

• Check to see if the database has a subject or

thesaurus facility to help identify appropriate

keywords.

Stage 2: Identify information sources You now need to determine WHERE you are going to

search for information - In order to help you select the

correct database for your topic, the JRUL website

categorises the bibliographic databases by subject area.

E.g.

• Select the Academic Support link provided at

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

• Click on A-Z of subjects link, and click on the

subject of your choice e.g. Geography

• Now click on the Databases link – You are

presented with links to various databases

within your chosen subject area: Read the

individual database descriptions to determine

which contain journal articles

• Click on an individual database e.g. GeoBase

• Select your chosen database from the suppliers

product list (if necessary)

Searching for articles by topic/subject

Further options for Stage 2

Search on JSTOR

(JSTOR contains historical back-runs of 900+ academic titles – Searches can be narrowed down by subject)

• Select the Electronic Resources from the JRUL website http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

• Select Databases

• Click on the letter J, then select JSTOR from the list which appears

• Click on Advanced Search, and use the checkboxes to restrict your search to your chosen subject

Cross Search using “Library Search”

Library Search allows you to search for both books and journal articles, as it combines a search of the Library

catalogue with a general search of the bibliographic databases

• Click on the Library Search link available from http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

N.B. The search engine for Library Search is not as comprehensive as the search engines within the individual databases and

results may vary. We do strongly recommend that for a thorough literature search you also explore at least two of the

individual subject specialist databases.

Stage 3: Searching the database

Once an information source has been selected, you can begin the process of searching for individual articles. Use the

search interface provided by the database to enter the Search terms (keywords) that you identified in Stage 1. In

addition to using keywords, you may wish to employ any or all of following searching techniques. Application of

these techniques will help to improve the quality of the search results received.

Using Boolean logic

Allows you to combine or exclude terms from your

search by using the operators AND, OR and NOT.

Usually you will be able to select one of these options

from a drop down menu to the left or right of the

search box :

• AND will link the terms to find only articles

that mention both concepts:

eg: tobacco AND advertising

• OR will broaden the search by looking for

synonyms, alternative spellings,

abbreviations and plurals. Parentheses are

often used to ensure that the database treats

each discrete concept separately before

looking for the next one:

eg: United Nations OR UN

eg: (public sector OR civil service) AND

absenteeism

• NOT can be used when you need to narrow

the search by excluding certain keywords or

concepts:

eg: industrial action NOT fire service

Using limiters Limiters allow you to narrow the focus of your search –

These are normally select these from a drop down menu,

located next to the box where you enter your search

terms. Common limiters include:

• Abstract – This greatly reduces the number of

results received as the search is only run across

the abstracts of articles as opposed to the full

text

• Dates – Very useful for eliminating older

material, or focusing in on a particular year(s)

of interest

• Publication – Most databases will allow you to

limit the search to articles from a nominated

publication(s).

• Other limiters will be subject specific to the

database –e.g. Most business & management

databases will allow you to limit the search to

articles about a nominated company.

Using truncation and wild cards

• Most databases allow for truncation and wild cards.

• Truncation: usually an asterisk (*) although can vary so check the database help screen

• Wild cards: usually a question mark (?) although can vary so check the database help screen

comput* would find computer, computing, computation etc.

nationali?ation will find nationalisation or nationalization

Too many results?

• Add/combine further keywords to the search to

make it more specific.

• Use subject terms listed in the index or

thesaurus and combine with keywords.

• Search across specific fields eg: searching the

title or abstract will help narrow the search.

• Apply limits to the search eg specify a particular

date or type of document.

• Check the Help screen for other search

operators that can be applied.

Not enough results?

• Think of other keywords or related terms to add

to the search.

• Use truncation.

• Remove any limits that have been set.

Stage 4: Downloading articles

Once you have located an article (or articles) that match your information needs, downloading is a relatively

simple process.

Individual download:

• You will often be offered the option to download in pdf or html format – pdf will provide an exact

representation of how the article appears in the print version of the journal (including diagrams,

photographs etc), but may take longer to download.

• There will also be options to print or email a copy of the article to your email account.

To download more than one article simultaneously

Most databases will allow for some form of bulk download (in many cases up to 100 articles at a time) -

Methods for performing bulk downloads vary depending on the database you are using, however, common

practice is to mark articles you wish to download by using a check box when browsing the results list.

This then often places all the chosen articles in a folder, which can be accessed when you have finished

browsing – Within the folder you will find the standard save, print and email options – Many databases will

also allow you to export the journal citations to bibliographic management software such as Endnote.

N.B. Articles are not always available in full text. You can however, use the purple FindIT@JRUL button to

check full text availability on another database. Clicking on the link will take you to the FindIT service, which

will provide full text links to the selected article (if it is available on a different database)

If you have any further questions about the contents of this guide, please feel free to contact the author:

John Hynes Faculty Team Assistant, MBS Library Services, Manchester Business School.

Telephone: 0161 275 6501

Email: john.hynes@mbs.ac.uk

N.B. Subject specific queries should be referred to your Academic Liaison Librarian in the first instance – You can

find out who this is by using the relevant Subject information pages on the JRUL website.

Further help