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University of Bradford >> Library >> Electronic Resources >> Journals in the Life Sciences
Journals publish research articles which are peer-reviewed (or refereed) before they appear. When an article is submitted to the editor of a journal, it is passed to at least two experts in the subject, who will read it and check it as far as they can before returning it to the editor with their comments.
The editor will either reject the article or return it to the author(s) for amendments. When the amendments are made, the article is published.
The process of peer review is critical in ensuring the quality of research and scholarship.
Journal articles will usually end with a list of references, acknowledging the work done by earlier researchers.
Not every article in a peer-reviewed journal is peer reviewed, just the research articles. Journals will also include book reviews, news and editorials, for example.
Journal articles are especially important in the life sciences, where it is crucial that information is both accurate and up-to-date.
Journals are usually published in both print and electronic formats. Usually the content is identical in both formats, although occasionally extra information will appear in the online version
Journal article databases allow you to find journal articles relevant to a particular topic.
They do not usually contain the full text of journal articles, although they will provide links to the full text for about 25% of articles, via the SFX button. The SFX button will also allow you to check the Library catalogue for print versions of the journals.
The most important journal article databases for you are:
Also useful:
Newspapers are different from academic journals. Articles are written by reporters who are not describing their own research but are reporting on what someone else has said, done or written.
They are not peer-reviewed.
Their value is in the provision of factual accounts of events and situations, often with more detail than found elsewhere.
Usually report on what someone else has said, done or written.
Valuable as sources of news on a particular subject.
Not usually peer-reviewed.
Normally, to get a book published by academic publishers, you must be pretty expert in your subject. There are exceptions!
Books are also edited by the publisher, but there is no system of peer review as in journals.
For details on how to assess the quality of information sources see the Quality in Information Resources Web Page.
For more help and information on journals and how to search for articles please contact Anne Costigan (a.t.costigan@bradford.ac.uk).