1. Finding Journal Articles
Use these slides to learn how to:

Identify an Academic journal article

Search for a particular journal article

Search for any journal article

Search using the Business Source
Complete database

Find more information
Photo: by Anon http://www.phd2published.com/2012/04/25/the-finished-article-by-claire-warden/
CC BY 3.0 AU http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/
La Trobe University
1

2. Identify an Academic journal article
Compare the different characteristics between Academic (or scholarly) journals and
popular journals, like news and business magazines.
Academic journal article
News/Business Magazines
Original research
General information, reporting facts and
providing opinions
Written by academics
Written by professional writers or journalists
Peer-reviewed or refereed (experts in the same
field have reviewed it)
Not reviewed by experts
Written for researchers/Academics, university
students, professionals
Written for a business audience
Structure is formal with an abstract, introduction
and bibliography
Informal structure
Examples:
• Academy of Management Journal
• Journal of Organizational Behaviour
Examples:
• Forbes’ Fortune
• Business Weekly
La Trobe University
2

3. Search for a particular journal article
Use the Library Search option:
1. Select the Search tab from the Library’s
homepage
2. Enter the article title and the author’s last
name
3. Click the Go button to start the search
4. In the results screen, select the title to view
the full text article
Example:
Collis, D. & Montgomery, C. 2008, ‘Competing on
resources’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 86, no.
7-8, pp. 140-150.
La Trobe University
3

4. Search for any journal articles
To search for articles, use an online Library database.
About Databases

Databases are online search tools

They contain collections of journal articles
and other resources

You can search a large number of journals at
once

Choose a database from the list under your
subject area

Login with your University username and
password

Recommended and popular business
databases:
̶
Business Source Complete
̶
Emerald Full Text
̶
ABI/Inform Global
La Trobe University
4

5. Search using the Business Source Complete database
1. Go to Business Source
Complete and follow the
prompts to login
2. Type in your search terms
3. Limit your results to Scholarly
journals
4. Click Search
Tip: login to Business Source
Complete from the Databases tab
on the Library homepage. Select
‘B’ from the A-Z list and scroll
down to the link for Business
Source Complete.
La Trobe University
5

6. Need more information?

Online videos (linking to YouTube):
•
Using the Library Search Tab – Topic Searching
•
Business Source Complete Database – Finding Journal Articles
•
Business Source Complete Database – Keyword Searching and Techniques

Library Search – watch a short video on getting started with Library Search.
http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/help/getstarted.php

Searching for Journal Articles – see the online tutorial in the Business & Management
Library Skills Module http://latrobe.libguides.com/content.php?pid=184702&sid=1611590

Searching for information – see the online Library Skills Module
http://latrobe.libguides.com/content.php?pid=171109&sid=1440892

Referencing – see the Academic Referencing Tool for examples of how to reference your
sources using the Harvard Referencing Style http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/help/styleguides.php
La Trobe University
6