4. Finding magazine and journal articles
Once you have decided magazine and/or journal articles will help you complete your assignment, you need to determine what types of articles you want and where to go to find these articles. This section of the Guide will help you identify and locate appropriate magazine and journal articles.
Popular magazines contain brief articles on current topics written by journalists. These magazines, published weekly or monthly, often provide an overview of a topic. Time, the Economist, and the New Republic are examples of popular magazines.
Scholarly journals publish articles written by scholars presenting their research which usually include bibliographies of sources used in writing the article. The articles go through a peer-review process in which other scholars read them to determine whether or not they should be published by the journal. Scholarly journals, published quarterly or less frequently, generally contain articles longer and of greater depth than those found in popular magazines. Social Forces, the Journal of Black Studies, and the American Historical Review are examples of scholarly journals.
Your instructor might have told you which type of article is best suited to your assignment. For additional advice on how to recognize the difference between popular magazines and scholarly journals, visit Lamont Library's guide called Popular Magazines and Scholarly Journals: Characteristics and Differences.Journal indexes
To find magazine or journal articles on a topic you will want to use a journal index. The libraries provide access to many indexes in print and online. Generally, the index you will use depends on the subject of your research.
One of the general indexes we often recommend as a starting point is Academic Search Premier (ASP). ASP is an electronic resource that indexes over 8,000 journals in all academic fields and includes the full-text of articles for more than half of the journals indexed. You can reach ASP from the Harvard Libraries site:
1. Go to E-Research
@ Harvard Libraries.
2. The quickest way to get to Academic Search Premier
is to click "Find E-Resources".
3. Click in the "Quick jump to selected major resources"
window. ASP will appear in the list of resources.
4. If you are inside a Harvard library you will be taken
directly into the online index. If you are outside a Harvard library,
you will be asked to enter your Harvard ID and PIN. Your ID and PIN provide
verification of your affiliation with Harvard, allowing you to connect
to ASP through the Harvard libraries' subscription. You may
find the full-text of an article that interests you, which you can print
or email to yourself. If you find only a citation to an article, click
the 
button for more
information. You may find that Harvard has an online or print subscription
to the journal or magazine and where to find it. For more detailed advice,
see From Journal Indexes to Journal Articles below.
Other resources
If you aren't sure which periodical index to use, try a "Quick Search" in the E-Research section of the Harvard Libraries site. "Quick Search" enables you to search a group of relevant databases at the same time.
"Quick Search" is a place to begin to find articles in a subject area. When you need to gather further sources, select one or more of the database to search more extensively.
From journal indexes to journal articles
If an online journal index gives you a citation to an article but doesn't
give you the full article, look for a button labeled .
Click on the button,
it. A new screen will open that provides links to any electronic
versions of the article and a link to the HOLLIS Catalog which will show
you which Harvard libraries own paper copies of the journal.
If
you don't see a button,
you'll have to take a few extra steps to get the article:
- Open a new browser window. From the Harvard Libraries site, highlight Research Tools and select Citation Linker.
- Enter as much of the article's citation information
as you have (e.g. journal title, date, volume number, etc.), then
click on .
- A new screen will open that provides a link to an electronic version of your article, if available. If there is no link to an electronic version of your article then follow the link to the HOLLIS Catalog, which will show you which Harvard libraries own a paper copy (see Locating Journals for instructions on how to locate the paper copy in a library).
If the citation linker does not bring you to either an electronic version of your article or a HOLLIS Catalog record, then:
1. Go to the Harvard
Libraries site and click on HOLLIS Catalog link in the upper left-hand
corner.
2. Once you're in HOLLIS, select the "Journal
Titles " tab.
3. Enter the title of the journal in which the article
appeared in the search box:
- Select the matching title in the Browse List.
- If more than one title is displayed, select the one that is the closest match. The record for that title will show you which Harvard libraries own paper copies of the journal you need.
- See Locating Journals for instructions on how to locate the paper copy in a library.
Hints:
- The quickest way to find a journal in the HOLLIS Catalog is to select the "Journal Titles" tab. "Journal title beginning with..." is the default search. Do not enter initial articles such as a, the, le and la.
- Don't give up after one search! The HOLLIS Catalog has over 9 million records; it's the largest online academic library catalog in the world. If your search retrieves no matches, then check for errors. You might have a typo, or you might have selected the wrong type of search from the menu.
- If you're still having trouble finding what you need, ask a reference librarian for advice. We can be reached online through our Ask a Librarian form, or on the phone or in person at any library.
- For online tips on using the HOLLIS Catalog, click on the "Search tips" link on every search screen. For more extensive online help, click on the "Help" link in the menu at the top of every screen.
Library hours
Whether you are an early-riser or a night owl, you'll probably find it useful to know that Lamont Library is open 24 hours a day 5 days a week. During final exams, Cabot Library in the Science Center stays open twenty-four hours a day.
For more on library hours, see Hours. If you are in a hurry and need to find an open library ASAP, see HCL Libraries open right now.
Library locations
See Directions for library locations.