Journal articles: how to find
them
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Introduction
The Library subscribes to a wide range of journal titles in both general and
subject specific areas. You will be expected to use journals as part of your
academic studies and you may find references to journals and journal articles
in your reading lists. A journal reference will look like this:
Bennett, H., Gunter, H. & Reid, S. (1996) Through a glass darkly: images of
appraisal. Journal of Teacher Development, 5 (3) October, pp.39-46.
Clarke, T.J. (1995) Freud’s Cézanne. Representations, No. 52 Fall, pp.94122.
These references can be broken down into different parts in order to identify
the actual article it refers to:
Title
Year
Volume Part / Issue Page
number
number
Journal of Teacher Development
1996
5
3
pp.39-46
More information on journals, their benefits and the different types available
can be found on the Skills for Learning (skillsforlearning.leedsmet.ac.uk)
Research theme pages.
http://skillsforlearning.leedsmet.ac.uk/local/research/journals/index.shtml
Discover: resource discovery tool
The most efficient way of identifying suitable journal articles for your topic is
by using The Library resource discovery tool, Discover. Discover is a onestop search engine which includes about 90% of all resources available in
Leeds Metropolitan University Library. This includes records from the Library
Catalogue and most of the electronic journals and databases we subscribe to.
You can find a list of all databases not currently on Discover under the
Resources tab on Library Online.
For Law students, Westlaw, Lexis Library and Lawtel are not on Discover but
you can search them all using JustCite.
Copyright © 2013The Library
Leeds Metropolitan University
Screenshots reproduced with the permission of the software provider
We recommend using Discover for keyword searches. If you already have a
reference to an article, journal or book we still recommend finding it using the
Library Catalogue (for the journal or book) or the A-Z ejournals list (for an
article in an electronic journal) see the section below on how to do this.
See the guides ‘Discover: a short guide’ & ‘Discover: advanced guide’ for
further help on using Discover.
Searching for journal articles using Databases
1) Go to The Library Online home page at
libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk
2) Click on the tab Resources
3) Click on the link to For Your Subject
4) Choose your subject area
5) Click on the heading Databases
You will now see an alphabetical list of the Databases that are
useful for your chosen subject.
Browse through the list and choose the Database(s) most
relevant to your topic. If you are searching for articles you must
select one that covers articles – there are some that have other
types of information such as films, images and financial
information.
6) The majority of Databases will not require you to log in on
campus if you access Library Online through X-stream but may
require your Leeds Met username and password off campus
(this is the username/password that you use to log in to
X-stream and PCs in The Library.)
However some Databases require a special password for which
you will see:
click on the Get Password button to find the details you will
need to log in to the database.
On campus - the username and password for the service will
appear.
Off campus - for security you will be asked to enter your Leeds
Met username and password and will then be shown the
username and password for the Database.
Make a note of the unique username and password for the
service then click on the name of the Database to login.
7) Once you have logged in you can perform searches for your
topic. Most of these databases provide their own Help screens
that will guide you through their use.
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Obtaining full text if you have an article reference
If you already have a reference to an article there are two places to check for
our full text journal subscriptions:

Online – ejournals search page

Print – Library Catalogue
Find out if we have the full text of the journal online
1) Go to Library Online at libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk
2) Click the tab Resources
3) Click on Journals
4) Click on the Find eJournal List link
Type the journal title into the Search box and click Search
5) If Leeds Met does not have an electronic subscription to the journal you
will see:
6) If we do not have the journal electronically you can search the Library
Catalogue to see if we have it in print on the shelves (see “Find out if we
have the journal on the shelves” section below)
7) If the journal is available, under the title of the journal you will see details
of the electronic availability from Leeds Met. Please note that some
journals will be available from more than one source.
Journal title
Provider /
service /
database
Availability
8) Check the available dates to make sure the date you need is available. If
there is more than one provider choose the one with the best coverage.
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9) Make sure you read any instructions about coverage. For example
Embargo: Year 1 means that the most recent / current year is not
available
10) Click on the name of the provider you want to use.
11) Enter the username and password if asked.
12) You should then be taken to the journal.
13) Using the date, volume, part number and page numbers you will be able
find the specific article you need.
14) You will then be able to open, save or print the article.
Find out if we have the journal on the shelves
If Leeds Met does not have an electronic subscription to the journal you will
need to check if it is available in print. All journal titles are listed on the Library
Catalogue.
15) Click on the link to the Library Catalogue.
16) In the Search box, type in the title of your journal.
17) Select Journal Title from the drop down menu.
18) Click on the Search button
If Leeds Met does not have a print subscription to the journal go to “If the
journal is not available from Leeds Met” section below.
19) If it is in stock you will see a catalogue record for the journal. The
Details of this Title tab will show details of available volumes
and which Library it is held at:
Journal title
The holdings
summary
gives details
of the set(s)
of years /
volumes that
are in stock.
Site
Headingley Library journals
All journals are kept on the ground floor of Headingley Library. A selection of
the recent issues of journals are displayed in the Current Journals Display
Area. All other copies of journals are kept in the Bound Journals Area and are
arranged alphabetically by title.
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City Campus Library journals
Most journals are kept on the first floor of City Campus Library and are
arranged alphabetically by title. The most recent issues of journals are kept on
display shelves. The very recent issues of some of the more popular titles are
kept in the High Demand Area on the ground floor.
Law journals can be found in the Law Collection on the second floor. The
catalogue Item Record will say 'Law Journals' rather than 'Journals Collection'
if it is in this area.
If the journal is not available from Leeds Met
If after completing the checks outlined above you cannot find the journal you
require directly from Leeds Met there are other options available to you.
Access to other Libraries
There are several different schemes which enable students to access other
academic libraries. Some of these other libraries may contain the journal you
need.
Please ask at the Help and Information Point, or look at the Using Other
Libraries pages within the Services tab on Library Online to see if there
is a scheme that could help you.
It is always worth checking the catalogue of the library before your visit. A list
of links to University’s in our region is available from Library Online under
the Using Other Libraries section.
British Library Reading Room
Alternatively you can visit the Reading Room at the British Library Document
Supply Centre.
Please ask at the Help and Information Point, look at the Library Online
Using Other Libraries pages within the Services tab or see the
Essential Library guide to… ‘Using other Libraries and Interlibrary Loans'.
Interlibrary Loans
The Interlibrary Loans service provides items which are not held by The
Library at Leeds Met. Photocopied journal articles are available via the British
Library Document Supply Centre from other libraries throughout the country,
some of which will not lend to individual users.
Please ask at the Help and Information Point, look at the Library Online
Interlibrary Loans pages within the Services tab or see the Essential
Library guide to… 'Using other Libraries and Interlibrary Loans'.
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Further help
Library staff are always happy to help with any queries you may have.

Phone Us (0113) 812 1000 - you can also get 24/7 IT support on this
number

Email Us or Chat with Us - via the Need Help? page on Library Online
http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk

Visit Us - come to the Help and Information Points for Library account
and borrower enquiries, IT support and help with research or finding
information
Feedback
Does this document tell you what you want to know? Please tell us what you
think by filling in a What’s Your View? card available from each Library or
Library Online. Please include details of the document title.
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