Example of a Journal (in print format)
Journals are a type of 'periodical,' - a publication that is produced on a regularly occurring schedule, or 'periodically.' A given journal may go back many decades, grouped by volume. Typically, a volume will consist of the issues published in a calendar year. A "quarterly" journal will have four issues throughout the year.
Prior to the advent of digitization, when journals were published only in print, it was crucial to have the volume and issue number in order to track down a particular article.
The presence of a volume and issue number in a reference citation is a clue that the cited source is an article from a journal.
- Search for access to the journal Political Science QuarterlySearch for journals held / subscribed to by Suffolk University.
Articles > Journals > Periodical Databases > Provided by the Library
Journal Article (in print format)
- “Gender, American Identity, and Sexism.”Graeber, John, and Mark Setzler. 2022. “Gender, American Identity, and Sexism.” Political Science Quarterly (Oxford University Press / USA) 137 (4): 715–40. doi:10.1002/polq.13418.
Citations are Maps to an Article's Location
An article's citation identifies the location of the article, enabling the reader to track down the article. Portions of the nested diagram are reflected in the citation components.
Citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago-Turabian, APSA), vary in the number and the order of their components, and in the display formatting. However, all citation styles contain the following elements:
- Author of the article.
- Year of publication.
- Title of article.
- Title of periodical.
- Volume number (issue number), pages.
- Title of the periodical database (MLA style only).
- DOI number (ex.:https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy) or Permalink.
The Internet and Digitization Revolutionized Access
'Periodicals' are regularly occurring publications. Examples include:
- monthly journals
- weekly magazines
- daily newspapers
Periodical databases are created by vendors who negotiate with publishers, to gain the rights to gather articles from hundreds of publications (journals, magazines, newspapers). The database vendors provide features to enable the end user to identify articles on a given topic. These features include the search interface, standardized indexing terms (subject terms), citation information, email and export functions. Examples include Ebsco's (the vendor) Political Science Complete and Academic Search Complete.
Individual publishers may host their own platform and search interface. Examples include Cambridge University Press, SAGE, and Wiley.
Libraries subscribe to many periodical databases from multiple vendors, to provide access to content for their constituents.