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Finding Articles in Journals, Magazines, and Other Resources
Articles are published in journals, magazines, conferences, proceedings and other publications. In today's rich information environment, articles are available in print and in a variety of electronic formats. Before discussing how to locate articles in an effective manner, it is useful to consider the nature of journals, magazines, periodicals and other serial publications.
Journals, Magazines and Serial Publications
Journals and magazines (and such things as the publications of
conferences that are held from time to time) are examples of
serial publications, because they quite literally are
published "in a series." Journals, magazines and other serial
publications are an extremely important source of information
for topics covered in the MSEM program. This is because the
information they provide "can be quite current" (usually much more
current than the information in books), "because
they can be very specific in their
treatment of subjects, and because there are so many of them
in existence that a journal can be found on practically any
subject" covered in the MSEM program (see Ellis Mount and Beatrice
Kovacs, 1991, Using Science and Technology Information
Sources (Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press), p. 26).
The Classification of Serial Publications
It is common to classify journals, magazines and other serial
publications "by means of the audiences for whom they are
prepared" (see Mount and Kovacs, p. 28).
Scholarly and Professional Journals
These journals are intended for scholars, researchers,
professionals who work in the field, and students who
are studying the field. Sober and professional looking,
these publications generally do not feature advertising.
Often published by professional societies and organizations,
these journals may feature book review sections, technical
articles with special jargon and terminology. Articles
often contain charts, graphs, and tables of data. Reports
of primary research usually appear in scholarly and profesional
journals, although highly theoretical articles also
appear. Virtually all articles feature some type of
documentation, including footnotes, references, and bibliographies,
all of which clearly detail sources of information.
Many scholarly and professional journals additionally require
that submitted articles are to be "peer-reviewed"; that is,
articles are "to be evaluated and recommended by selected,
anonymous reviewers before being accepted for publication"
(see Mount and Kovacs, p. 28). Scholarly and professional
journals are usually excellent sources of information for
work in the MSEM program.
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How can you determine if a journal is a peer-reviewed or refereed publication? One method is to examine a print copy of the journal. Look for the common characteristics of a peer-reviewed journal. These characteristics include:
However, the easiest way to verify whether or not a specific journal is a peer-reviewed publication is to use the Ulrich's Periodical Directory Database from Bowker. Use Ulrich's to look up a journal title. Click on a description of the journal to see whether or not it is refereed (i.e., peer-reviewed). To see which journals are peer-reviewed in a broad subject area, execute an advanced Boolean search. For example, to see which management journals are peer-reviewed, do the following advanced Boolean search:
Both Business Source Elite and ABI/Inform both offer a feature in which it is possible to restrict results to peer-reviewed articles only, but these results are not always consistent. The recommended method is to employ Ulrich's Periodical Directory Database. |
Keep in mind that a serial publication is not necessarily a scholarly or professional serial simply because the word "journal" appears in the title of the publication. It is necessary to evaluate all characteristics of a publication in order to determine its classification.
A small number of outstanding professional management serials do feature colorful and glossy covers and other content. Moreover, some of these serials do not feature excessive scholarly apparatus (such as lengthy bibliographies). One example of this kind of publication is the Harvard Business Review. Nonetheless, such journals invariably feature expert authors, and articles usually are based on research findings. Such journals also enjoy a reputation as excellent professional management publications.
Trade Journals
Trade journals are intended for practicioners in the field
who need practical, up-to-date, application-oriented information.
Usually featuring a professional, but attractive, and heavily-
illustrated format, trade journals feature articles written
in the technical work language of the practicitioner. Photographs,
illustrations, and color graphics are common. Documentation
(e.g., footnote, references) tend to be rare. Advertising
is generally prevalent. Industry news and job advertisements
are also common. Trade journals are often an invaluable
and useful source of information in support of work carried out
in the MSEM program. However, articles from trade journals
should be used with care: it is important to consider the
completeness of information in a trade journal article; it is
also necessary to evaluate the article for any potential bias
based on the editorial focus of the publication.
Well-Produced General Interest Serials
Aimed at the "lay market" that prefers "well-illustrated and
clearly written articles," articles in these publications additionally
are written at a level suitable for an educated audience. Articles
are usually written by professional staff, experienced free-lance
writers, and even scholars and professional experts in a
field. Some articles may contain documentation. Advertising
is common. These serials may also be a useful source
of credible information for the MSEM student.
Popular Magazines
Featuring a glossy and attractive format, heavily illustrated
with photographs, drawings, charts and other visual material,
popular magazines are intended for the general public. Articles
tend to be short. Written in a simple language in order to
reach a broad audience, articles do not feature documentation.
Popular magazines may be used in support of work in the MSEM
program, but they should be used with care, and all information
should be evaluated.
Newspapers
Essentially devoted to the dissemination of news, current events,
articles of opinion, feature articles, and advertising, newspapers
are published on a daily or weekly basis, or on some other short-term
schedule. As with popular magazines, newspapers may be employed in
support of MSEM work, but they should be used with care, and all
information should be evaluated.
Locating Relevant Articles
The most efficient method for finding articles in serial publications
is to use an indexing service. An indexing service regularly
publishes a print index that enables a user to search for articles
by subject and author. Articles in indexing
services are referred to by means of a bibliographic citation
(typically, author, title, when-and-where-published information).
Most print indexes are now available in electronic form as bibliographic databases. Bibliographic databases offer significant advantages over print indexes. Because a database consists of database records, and because each record consists of fields of information, bibliographic database searching enables a user to retrieve articles not only by subject and author, but also by other database fields, such as article title, journal title, author affiliation, and so on.
Two types of bibliographic databases are generally available:
[1] Traditional bibliographic citation databases provide citation information about articles in addition to an abstract, or a brief intellectual summary of the article.
[2] Full-text bibliographic databases provide citation information, perhaps an abstract, and the full text of articles. As such, the text of articles may be searched (with keyword searching) in these databases. The definition of "full text" is not consistent, however. A database that is labelled "full text" may actually provide the full text of only a small percent of the articles indexed in the database.
At MSOE, the MSEM student is provided access to a number of important bibliographic databases (both traditional citation and full-text) that are useful in retrieving articles or information about articles.
Print Indexes
Although most print indexes are now searchable as bibliographic
databases, it is important to understand that databases do not
necessarily provide comprehensive search results in any given
subject area.
One reason for this state of affairs is that most of the articles indexed in databases have been published only in the past 30 years or so (i.e., 1970). To locate articles published before the coverage of the database begins, it is necessary to consult relevant print indexes. For the vast majority of reports, research papers and projects in the MSEM program, it is usually not necessary to locate articles that were published earlier than the past 30 years. However, in some cases, a classic (and older) article may have to be located, and certainly MSEM thesis and capstone work in the program may require a comprehensive article search. In this case, print indexes may have to be employed.
In the event that publication dates of articles may be an important search criteria, to verify the coverage of a database that you wish to use, check any available product information about the database, and experiment with searches that test for publication dates of articles.
For example, ABI/Inform is an outstanding business and management full-text bibliographic database available at MSOE. The product information for the database indicates that it includes articles published from 1971 to the present.
It is almost always useful, however, to test the database. Database content and coverage can change quickly, often before the producers have the chance to update product information.
In the case of ABI/Inform, the following search retrieves any articles published before January 1, 1971:
Interestingly -- as of August 2006 -- this search retrieves the records of 458,014 articles, many of which are available in full text as PDF files! Additional searching reveals the following pattern:
| Date | Number of Records | Sample Journal Titles | Full Text? |
| pdn(< 03/01/1965) | 377,578 | Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Accountancy, New York Certified Accountant, Monthly Labor Review, Personnel Journal, Journal of Marketing, National Association of Accountants. | Yes. Selected titles. PDF format. |
| pdn(< 01/01/1920) | 9,480 | Journal of Accountancy, Monthly Labor Review, National Association of Cost Accountants. | Yes. Selected titles. PDF format. |
| pdn(< 01/01/1910) | 992 | Journal of Accountancy, | Yes. PDF format. |
| pdn(< 01/01/1906) | 75 | Journal of Accountancy | Yes. PDF format. |
| pdn(< 01/01/1905) | 0 | None. | No. |
In reality, coverage of articles published before 1971 does occur in this database. However, an increasingly smaller and smaller number of titles appear to be available. For researchers who need to carry out extensive searching, this simple date-coverage test of the ABI/Inform database highlights the need to evaluate each database. For a comprehensive search, it would be necessary to consult print indexes.