WRH 365: Writing for the Health Professions

Step 1: Selecting a journal and finding full text

You can use the Find Journals tab (library homepage under the Resources pull-down menu) to get full text access to a many journals.

Use the Journals by Category list on the left to select a discipline related to your major or an area of interest. 

 Or, if you have a journal in mind, search to see if we have access. 

Once you find a journal that looks good, do 3 things.

1) Make sure you see the notation that it is a peer-reviewed journal. 

2) Check the date directly under the title.  You want to see just a start date (e.g.,  1993-) but no closing date (e.g., 1993-2014).  

2) Click on the title of the journal, not the link that says Online Access.  Then scroll down to the Full Text Availability section of the page to make sure the most recent 2-3 years of the journal are available.

Step 2:  Finding information about scope, submission process, and editors

Sometimes you will find this information in the library holdings along with the full text.  Sometimes, you need to link to or search for the journal home page.

Tips: 

• Make sure you can find the information before you start the review-- most journals are very upfront about this information, but there are exceptions.

• Scope is a common heading for information about what a journal covers.  Information about the review process may either be part of the general description or may be discussed under submission/author guidelines.

Common scholarly journal publishers

Not sure if you have found the right page?  You may see the name of one of these prominent publishers on the page or in the URL.

• Elsevier (AKA Science Direct)
• Springer
• Wiley
• Sage
• Taylor and Francis
• Ovid
• Cambridge
• Oxford
• Other universities
• Professional organizations

Step 3:  Do the review!

If you have done step 1 and step 2 you should feel confident that you have all the information you need to do a good job on this assignment!