Abstracts

An abstract is a summary of the main content of a research paper, journal article or book.

Citations

Citations or references give the identifying details of a book, article or other information source in a standardised format. Citations for journal articles usually include the authors, article title, journal title, date published and page numbers. Book citations include the authors, book title, date published, publisher and place of publication. Citations for web documents should also include a URL (Internet address) and the date the information was accessed.

Databases

Databases listed on library sites are organised collections of records describing articles in serial publications such as journals, newspapers, conference proceedings, government reports, and primary and secondary materials for law. Theses and books can also be indexed in some databases.  Databases can be subject-specific or multidisciplinary.  Some databases provide the fulltext of the article, while others give abstracts and citation details for tracing the article.

Locating the Fulltext

• Check the E-Journals and Newspapers list
• Check the Library catalogue by journal title or ISSN
• Search Libraries Australia, the national bibliographic database by journal title or ISSN for libraries, including UC, that have the print journals
• Request a copy via Document Delivery

Fulltext

The entire text of a "fulltext" article is available online to print, save or email. Some articles do not include tables or photographs.

Journals

Journals, sometimes called serials or periodicals, are similar in format to magazines and are usually released at regular intervals (eg. monthly, quarterly or annually), however they usually provide scholarly or professional information. Many journals are peer reviewed (see below). Journal articles are a good source of up-to-date and indepth information.

Most of the Library's journal subscriptions are now online through the website (over 24,000 titles). For a complete list of online journals (e-journals) at UC, try the E-Journals and Newspapers search page. Some selected e-journals may also be listed on the subject guide for your research area.

Peer-reviewed or Refereed Journals

Peer review is the process by which an author submits his/her paper to a panel of recognised researchers in the discipline.  The document is reviewed and recommendations are given as to its publication, revision or rejection.  Articles accepted for publication are therefore understood to meet the expected standards of the discipline.  To identify if a journal is peer-reviewed check its editorial statement, instructions to authors or the academic/refereed journal lists on the Library's Research Help page.

Open Access

Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.  The aim is to provide open access to peer-reviewed research articles and their preprints.  For more information on Open Access see Open Access Overview.

 Content responsibility: Marie.Devlin@canberra.edu.au