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Finding journal articles and journals: Finding journals

A guide to finding journal articles and journals available to University members..

What is a journal?

An open text

Journal is the most commonly used word used for a periodical, a magazine, a newspaper, or an annual report - in fact any publication which appears on a regular basis.

Journals provide more up-to-date information than a book and describe the latest research. The Library has subscriptions to over 45,000 journals.

Finding out what journals we have

There are several ways to find out what journals we have:

  • Search Enterprise catalogue
  • Search or browse on BrowZine 
  • Search or browse on the E-journals Finder

Search the Enterprise catalogue to find online and print journals

Enterprise will show you both online and print journals held by the Library. Search for specific titles or journals on a topic.



Tips!
Search for the journal title and then limit your results to the format "Journal". 
Search for a topic and the word "periodicals" to find journals on a topic eg food periodicals


Search or browse BrowZine

Use BrowZine to select, and keep up-to-date with, the latest issues of your favourite journals. Search for specific titles or browse by subject.


Search or browse the E-journals Finder to find online only

The E-journals Finder gives the most comprehensive and up-to-date catalogue of our online journals. Search for a specific title or browse the subject lists to find titles covering your subject.


Accessing e-journals

Library resources use the same login system as Blackboard and Office365, so you will often be taken seamlessly into our resources. If not, usually all you will need to do is enter your University username and password when prompted. Make sure you enter your username with the email suffix (e.g. ab123456@student.reading.ac.uk).

If this is the first time you have logged in via this method when off-campus you will be asked to complete a Multi-Factor Authentication. For more information see:

If you access our resources via a search engine, your login may not be picked up automatically. Look for an 'institutional' or 'shibboleth' login option and select 'University of Reading' from the drop-down list that will appear. You will then be asked to enter your University username and password.

Terms of Use

When you use our e-resources you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Please take a moment to look at these by following the link below:

Logging in to Library resources

Watch this short video on how you login to use Library resources.

If you are unable to view this video on YouTube it is also available on YuJa - view the Logging in to the Library video on YuJa (University username and password required)

Where are the print journals kept?

Our printed journals can be found on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Floors of the Library. There are also some older volumes kept in closed access locations. Search the Enterprise catalogue to find the current location of any title.

When you click on the title of the journal on the catalogue you will see details of the location of the printed volumes. Possible locations include:

On shelf on the ** Floor

Go to the floor mentioned in Library and consult the plans to find the orange Journals section. These are the locations for specific Call Numbers:

  • 001-399 - 2nd Floor
  • 400-699 - 3rd Floor
  • 700-999 - 4th Floor
Off-site Store - available on request 

These volumes are located in our Off-site Store. See the link below for more information about placing a request.

On Closed Access - available on request

These volumes are in the Library but not publically accessible. See the link below for information on requesting these: 

Borrowing journals

  • Most journals can be borrowed for 7 days.  
  • You can borrow 5 bound volumes or issues at once.
  • Journals may not be renewed.
  • Holds can't be placed on journals.