Biological Sciences Library Guide: Journals & Articles

What is a journal?

A journal is like an academic magazine where scholars have written articles about their research.

What is the difference between a book and a journal article?

A book is a longer, and a usually more comprehensive text on a subject.

Journal articles are shorter, and more specific. They are published more frequently and so have more up-to-date information than books do.

Why use journals?

• They are usually more up to date than books.
• As most of them have been checked by other academics (i.e. peer reviewed), they are more reliable than general web articles and newspaper articles.
• They are shorter to read than books.

At UCT Libraries we have journals in both print and electronic format.

To find print journals, use Primo. The journals are physically housed in three different areas. The journals of the current year are in the Current Journals Reading Room, between that and 10 years ago are in the Commerce Library. Anything older than 10 years is kept in the basement.

To find electronic journals, use the Journal Search in Primo. Remember to search for the journal title, and not the article title.

Below are links to the Department of Higher Education accredited journals lists.

This presentation demonstrates how to find a specific journal title or article in Primo.

Click here to go directly to the Journal Search.