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Journals, articles and research for Business

How to find articles and academic research. Please use the guide navigation menu to explore the guide. Contact your librarian if you need help or advice.

Journals, articles and peer-reviewed research

What is a journal? 

Journals are academic magazines where researchers publish peer-reviewed articles. They can be quite general or cover very specific subjects. New issues come out several times a year. 

What is a journal article? 

Journal articles are the individual pieces of research in journals and are usually substantial contributions to knowledge. Each journal article cites and references many other journal articles and will (hopefully!) in turn be read and cited by the authors of new articles. Peer-reviewed journal articles are the mainstay of academic research and one of the most commonly used sources in coursework and academic writing.

What is peer review?

Peer review is a quality control process whereby academics review each others' work to check that it has been researched rigorously and contributes to the discipline that the journal covers. You can find out more about peer review here.

How can I tell if a journal article has been peer-reviewed?

  • Use the 'Academic', 'Scholarly', or 'Peer-reviewed' button in your search results.
  • Check the journal's homepage. Search online for the title of the journal, and the homepage will usually tell you.
  • Ask your librarian!

Why are peer-reviewed articles so important? 

  • Peer review is a measure of quality and authority in an article, the 'gold standard' for research. 
  • Your lecturers expect you to use peer-reviewed research in your coursework, especially in the literature review section of projects, to get the best marks.
  • Reading and using journal articles is a great way to stay up-to-date with current research in your field.

 

Finding highly rated research

These databases enable you to carry out a citation search. You can use them to:

  • Identify journal articles 
  • Find out how many times they have been cited
  • Discover journal impact factors. 

Want to learn more? Check out the Library Guide on Research Impact to learn more about measuring the impact of research and bibliometrics. 

Identifying Highly-Rated Journals

The CABS Academic Journal Guide 2018 is a good way to work out what the most highly rated academic journals are for inclusion in your project. Use the red 'Register/Log In' button under the page title to view and download a copy. 

You can then find the direct link to these journals in our subscriptions using our Journals A-Z- search for the journal title, not for individual articles.

 

Limiting searches to highly rated journals

Want to limit your search to 4* journals?

Follow these steps to search only for articles published in highly rated journals. 

  1. Use the CABS Academic Journal Guide to identify the journals you’d like included in your search.
    • You’ll need to register in order to view the list
    • Once you’re in, find your subject in the dropdown menu to see the highest-rated journals
  2. Log in to Business Source Ultimate and select Publications from the menu at the top of the page.
  3. Search for each journal title you identified in Step 1 in the Browsing box (the smaller box below the main search box).
    • Find it in the results
    • Tick the box next to it and select Add to add it to your search box.
    • You’ll notice that it appears in the top Search box.
    • Search for each subsequent journal you want to include in your search in the Browse box.
    • When you’re done, you'll see each of the journals on your list. Hit Search. Business Source Ultimate will remember this search.Screen shot of Business Source Ultimate Publications search featuring multiple journals. Red circles and arrows indicate each stage of the instructions in the text.
  4. Use the advanced search in Business Source Ultimate to search for your terms. Don’t review the results yet.
  5. Select Search History beneath the search boxes. You should see the journals title search you carried out as well as your advanced search of terms. Tick the boxes next to each of these search items. Click on the box Search with AND.The Search History/Alerts section in Business Source Complete shows a list of previously searched terms and journals titles and the combined search.
  6. Review your results. If there are too many or too few, adjust your advanced search in the Search History section. 

Please note, while you can see titles and abstracts for most materials, you will likely not have access to the full-text of every journal. Look for the is it @ City Library? link for access to the full text.

Expert tip: Business Source Ultimate remembers search history from a single session, but once you’ve logged off, your search will be lost.

If you want Business Source Ulitmate to remember your searches between sessions, you can sign up for an individual Business Source Ultimate account. To get started click Sign in on the upper right of the screen and find the option below the login area for ‘Don’t have an account? Create one now’ and follow the prompts to register.

 

How to find all the issues of a journal 

You can find the homepage for City's subscription to a journal in two ways:

  • Search CityLibrary Search for the full title of the journal. If you get a lot of results that are not your journal, use the Content Type filters on the left-hand side to select just Journal/Ejournal. 
  • Go to the Journals A-Z linked directly underneath the CityLibrary Search box and search for the full title of the journal. 

You can then use the links to browse the journal. They are usually organised with the most recent issue at the top, and some journals include "in press" articles that are so new they do not have an issue yet.

 

Printed journals 

A very small number of our journals are only available in print in the Business Library. You will find these journals on CityLibrary Search where they are described as a Journal, rather than an eJournal, like this:

Record for Harvard Business Review on CityLibrary Search. There is a link to check availability of the print journal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hit Check Availability to see which library the journal is held at. Journals at the Business School are in the Business Library between the computer lab and the Silent Study area. 

  • Journals are stored in alphabetical order by title.
  • Each journal is a bound volume containing several issues in date order. You can use your reference to pick out the right volume, issue and page numbers, or pick up the most recent one to browse.
  • Very recent journal issues may be unbound. These will be thinner magazine-like publications and will be shelved in magazine holders at the end of the run.
  • The most recent issues of very popular print periodicals like the Harvard Business Review and the Estates Gazette are held behind the Library Help Desk. 

 

What does peer-review mean? (video)