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Chemistry: Journal articles

A guide to finding information in chemistry. Includes links to key resources and sources of help.

Outline of a person holding a pile of blue volumes on a trayJournal articles are usually short papers on specific topics. They are published in issues or parts of journals (also called periodicals) which appear regularly. Use articles to find:

  • up-to-date research in your subject
  • reviews of developments in your subject - these review articles include extensive lists of references
Types of articles
  • Primary - these are first hand accounts of research that has been undertaken written by the researchers themselves.
  • Secondary - describe, summarise, or discuss information or details originally presented in another source. These include review articles which summarise the current state of the knowledge on a topic (many databases allow you to restrict search results to this type of article). A more specialised secondary source are systematic reviews which use the existing literature to try to answer a specific question, often including a meta-analysis of the all the studies included in the relevant articles.
Finding journal articles

Search the Summon discovery service using the box below to find full-text journal articles available via the Library. Search using topic topic words or for a specific article title.

Search Summon:


Search databases covering your subject

Alternatively try the subject-related databases listed below. They will give you references to journal articles - they may also give you the full-text of the article, or at least link you to the full-text if it is available online.

Key databases for finding journal articles

Chemistry-specific databases

General databases

Getting articles not held at Reading

Map of the south of the UKOur Inter-Library Loans service can get articles not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).

For more information see our webpages:

Citing journal articles in the RSC style

In the text of your coursework insert a superscript number in sequence. Read more about this on the citing references page.

In your bibliography journal articles (online and in print) should be referenced as:

  1. A. Surname, B. Surname and C. Surname, Abbreviated Journal Title, year, volume number, page numbers.
  2. P.M. Keane, F.E. Poynton, J.P. Hall, I.P. Clark, I.V. Sazanovich, M. Towrie, T. Gunnluagsson, S.J. Quinn, C.J. Cardin and J.M. Kelly, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2012, 6, 734-738.

If there are no page numbers include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) instead. The abbreviated forms of journal titles can be found at:

Video - finding journal articles in chemistry

Videos: discovering online articles and chapters with Summon

If you are unable to view these videos on YouTube they are also available on YuJa:

Accessing online Library resources

If you are on campus you will be able to access most e-journals and e-books, and some databases, without entering a username and password because your IP address identifies you as being at the University of Reading.

For any that require a login, see the Off-campus tab.

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:

When you are off-campus you will need to login to identify yourself as a member of the University of Reading to gain access to our protected databases, e-books and e-journals. 

Your login details

You login in the same way as for Blackboard - via Microsoft. Just enter your University username followed by @student.reading.ac.uk (e.g. ab123456@student.reading.ac.uk) and your password. 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:

Getting to the login page...

  • For most resources, if you follow a link from our website or catalogues your login will be picked up automatically or you will be prompted to login straightaway. 
  • If you access resources via another route you will need to look for a login option once you reach the resource you are trying to access. Look for an institutional or shibboleth login option and pick 'University of Reading' from a list of institutions. This will then pick up your login or prompt you to login. For more information about institutional login, please see 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)