Journal articles are written by scholars in an academic or professional field. An editorial board reviews articles to decide whether they should be published. Journals that go through this process are called peer reviewed or refereed journals. Journal articles may cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research.

Since journals are published at periodic intervals, they are grouped in the category called periodicals. They may be in print format or on the Web as electronic journals. Your library purchases subscriptions to most journals.

Use a Journal...

• when doing scholarly research to find out what has been studied on your topic.
• to find bibliographies that point to other relevant research.

Examples of Journals: