Understanding ejournals

An academic journal is a type of publication where research is shared. Think of it like a magazine, but instead of stories or news, it contains detailed studies on specific topics. They are usually published several times a year, which could be every three months, every month, or once a year. Ejournals are just journals which are published online.

These studies are written by subject experts to describe their research. If you are looking for a general introduction to a subject, this might be easier to find in an ebook. You can learn more about ebooks from the Understanding ebooks page.

Many articles found in journals are reviewed by experts in the field before being published. This thorough quality check is called peer review.

Peer-reviewed journals are a good source in independent research as they:

• are reliable
• conform to high academic standards
• are a good source to use in assignments.

Be aware that even when a journal is marked as being peer reviewed only the research articles in it will have been part of the peer review process. Items such as editorials, book reviews and news articles will not have been reviewed and won't count as peer reviewed articles.

Where to find ejournals

Key journal titles for your subject area are also listed on the Selected resources for your study pages. These pages will be helpful if your module asks you to do independent research.

If you are looking for a single ejournal you can find it by searching for the title using Library Search.

Advantages of ejournal databases

You can also use a library database, such as Academic Search Complete, to search for ejournals. Find out more about databases on the Understanding databases page.

Using an ejournal database allows you to:

• search across thousands of articles from many journals at the same time
• search for articles on a specific subject or topic
• filter your search to look for peer-reviewed articles only
• access the full text of articles.

The OU library subscribes to a large number of ejournals. These can be found in several databases. This means that one journal can appear in a number of different databases. Some databases will provide you with the most recent issue of a journal. Others may only give you access to older issues.

Try it for yourself

If you already know a journal in your subject area, try accessing it through Library Search.

Alternatively go to Selected resources for your study and choose a subject that interests you. Use the 'Ejournal' filter to see a list of journals on that subject. Choose one and have a quick look at the back issues.

Find out more about articles on the Understanding articles page.