1. Using journals and accessing electronic journal articles
By the Academic Skills Team

2. In this session we will cover
Why you should use journals within your academic work
Discuss what a journal is and the difference between journal titles and journal articles
Effective searching techniques and identifying keywords
Using Summon to search & access journal articles
Databases for your subject area looking at Education Research Complete and ERIC
Emerald database
Searching for journal titles

3. Why use journals? Why not just use textbooks

4. Journals
Journals like magazines, newspapers and annual reports are in a group of publications known as serials or periodicals. This is a term used to describe publications that are issued at regular intervals, either daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually. You will need to carry out further reading as your studies progress.
Why Use Journals?
Timely – journals are published more often than books, as a result you will find up-to-date information in recent journals
Authoritative – articles are written by experts and in peer reviewed journals the articles are screened by a ‘jury’ of other experts before they are published

5. Journals
Journals can be divided into 3 types:
Scholarly: written reports on research, articles are written by researchers or subject experts, articles are peer reviewed and include references and bibliographies  
Trade and professional : Articles relate to an industry or profession, contain information about  products or services, cover current issues affecting an industry or profession  
Popular magazines: Written to entertain, have a glossy appearance & photographs, information is reported second or third hand by freelance reporters      

6. Tips when searching for journal articles using our E-Resources
Think about your assignment question. Always try and identify keywords. Keywords can be taken from class literature and background reading as well!
You can also use a Thesaurus to identify synonyms (similar words) for keywords.
It can be a good idea to have some keywords noted on a pad before you start to search the resources. You can also speak to us if you need further help familiarising yourself with all of our electronic resources
Use these keywords to search for learning materials within our collections

7. Computer, Technology, Improves, Student, Learning, Achievement
Identifying keywords
Think about your assignment question. Always try and identify keywords. Keywords can be taken from class literature and background reading as well! Imagine this is your assignment question. Can you identify the keywords?
In 1000 words discuss if computer technology improves student learning and achievement.
Computer, Technology, Improves, Student, Learning, Achievement
If you used a Thesaurus could you expand on these terms? Improve(s) = enhance, improvement. Student = pupil, undergraduate, postgraduate. Learning = knowledge, education, study… Achievement = accomplishment.

8. Search Tips Techniques
AND, OR & NOT are used to combine search terms…
AND will find all search terms (probably the best to use as it narrows your searches an example can be seen in the next slide)
OR will find one or another or both
NOT will exclude terms
If you are looking for a particular phrase just typing it into a search box on a database may not give you the exact results you are looking for. However, if you use quotation marks “” you will get more exact hits as they search for the terms side by side
For example, “Student Learning”

9. Electronic Databases
We have 100’s of databases at the university. These databases house journal titles. Inside these titles you will find articles. Just think of databases as giant electronic shelves. All you have to do is enter the correct keywords to locate your journal article! Summon can help you get what you want from these databases!

10. Using summon to search for journal articles
Summon is a good place to begin searching for journal articles. Summon searches across all of our databases You can access Summon using the search box via Finding Articles tab on the Subject Resource page

11. Use The limiters to narrow your searches
You can limit your search looking for Scholarly & Peer Reviewed material. Always make sure Full Text is selected as well
You can also narrow your search by discipline
Don’t forget to also narrow your search by date! You might not want out of date material?

12. Access an article using summon
To access an article using Summon select the Full Text Online link (you may be asked to sign in)
You will be asked to log in using your username & password. You will then be able to download the article by selecting either a PDF icon or a download PDF button

13. What is an abstract?
If you select preview below an article in Summon it will display an abstract. An abstract gives you a summary of the article so read it carefully

14. Summon will suggest searches
If you select preview below an article on Summon will also suggest additional keywords and searches for you.

15. Summon will show you related articles
Summon will also suggest similar articles for you. Just select the related articles link

16. Summon will suggest basic harvard
Summon will also show you basic Harvard referencing. Although we suggest that you look at our more detailed Harvard guides for more information

17. Databases for your subject
Navigate to the finding articles tab to see a full list of databases for your subject via

18. Education Research Complete & ERIC
Education Research Complete & ERIC are databases provided by EBSCO. You are able to enter your search terms and access articles. By using databases you will find that your results are narrowed and exact. Search for an article.
Then you can narrow your search using the limiters on the left hand side of the page and access your article by selecting the PDF Full Text link

19. Search ERC and ERIC together
You can search Education Research Complete and ERIC within one search. To do this select Choose Databases by Subject located above the search box
Then select education databases and ok. This will allow you to search more resources. You are able to refine by using the limiters

20. Emerald
Emerald is a really useful database that contains a lot of education based full text journal articles. Access Emerald via
You will be asked to log in. From there, you can search Emerald for articles or browse education specific titles

21. Emerald –access article
To access an article on Emerald, select the article title. You then have the option to read the article online or download it as a PDF
Find a detailed guide via

22. Search directly for journal titles
You can search directly for individual eJournal titles. Access Your Subject Resource page via the Finding Articles tab

23. You can use Google Scholar
You can use Google Scholar to search for journal articles
Please navigate to for more information
Using Google Scholar

24. Newspapers
We have a database called European Newsstream where you are able to access newspaper articles. Access via
Newspapers

25. Searching for information on the Web
You can use the Google Advanced search tool to search for information on the internet
Please navigate to for more information
Google advanced search