Periodicals
Periodicals
are publications that are published in a regular,
open-ended series. Journals are a
type of periodical.
Each issue of a journal contains a number of articles.
There are three
major types of journals:
- Scholarly
- Popular
(magazines)
- Professional
/ Trade
Strengths:
- Because
journals are published regularly, information
is much more current
than the information in books
- Most
important type of source for the physical
sciences (Biology, Chemistry,
Physics, etc.)
- Most
important type of source for quantitative
studies in the social sciences
(Sociology,
Political Science, Anthropology, etc.)
- The
short length of the articles allows the research
to be focused
on a specific aspect of
the topic
Weaknesses:
- The
comparatively short
length of
the articles prevents the author
from exploring a topic in the type of depth
that is possible in a book
Finding
Articles in Journals:
- To
find out which journals contain articles you
are interested in, use
an index
- Indexes
exist as online
subscription databases, such
as those in ALADIN, and
as print indexes
available at the library
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