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Creative Writing MA (Distance Learners)

Journal Articles

What are journals?

Journals

They are:

  • like magazines but of a scholarly nature
  • published at regular intervals with no predetermined end
  • contain articles on a variety of topics
  • the articles are written by different authors
  • sometimes they also contain reviews and other information
  • in printed and electronic formats

Why Should I use them?

  • journal time is much quicker than for a book
  • using information from journals will keep you up to date and informed of new developments in your subject
  • journals articles are more specific than books.  They give you more detailed information in a more scholarly and concise format
  • subject may not yet (or may never) be covered in books
  • quality research - academic reputation - peer reviewed.

What does peer reviewed mean?

  • Written by an academic, who is a specialist in the subject
  • Submitted to an editor, who then passes the work to other professionals or 'peers' for a critiques, the work is then passed back to the original writer for changes to be made before being published
  • Longer articles, heavily text based
  • Charts, tables, statistics and images
  • Properly referenced with a list of references at the end of the article.

Databases for your subject

For more specialist searching use an online database

What are online databases?

Databases are specialist search engines that search for quality information, such as journal articles, in specific subject areas.

The databases below are listed in order of relevance for your subject. Hover over the icons to see what help is available.

For help searching the databases contact your Design, Culture & the Arts information team. Details on the Home page

Please note that all databases are provided for educational use only.

Help - journal articles

The following guides will help you to develop your skills in finding journal articles:

Finding Journals

Critical thinking - what it is and why it matters.

Doing a Literature Search

Developing Keywords