Articles in peer-reviewed journals have been assessed before publication by subject experts. This means they are the "gold standard" in academic articles - the top journals in any field are highly likely to be peer-reviewed. You will be normally be expected to use peer-reviewed journal articles in your assignments.
Open access articles are free for the user to read - unlike the majority of articles in the academic world, which are published in journals which cost to view articles individually or require a subscription to the journal. One of the huge advantages of working or studying at Trinity College Dublin is the breadth of journals we subscribe to via the Library - we are paying for your access - but that doesn't help those at institutions with less resources, or independent researchers working outside an academic body.
Many sponsors of academic research now stipulate that the work that flows from their funding must be made available via open access, although that doesn't necessarily preclude publishing the work first in a non-open access journal. For example, a healthy proportion of research published in the traditional journal literature is available in "institutional repositories" where the parent institution makes its researchers paper accessible (such as TCD's TARA, the content of which can be along with other Irish institutions in RIAN). These are normally versions of papers called "pre prints" - the content of the paper is the same, but without the formatting the journal will apply.
Important to note, that while more journals are making their content at least partially open access directly within the journal website, many demand a hefty fee from the author to do so.
Want to know more about open access or the scholarly publication process? Contact our experts in the Library - Research Information Systems and Services. They can advise on research communication, dissemination and reporting and on maximising the impact of your research.
Education articles can be searched in STELLA search, our catalogue. You can either type in the full article title or topic keyword. Click on the fulltext links to the right of the item for the article. If you are unable to find fulltext prompts or there are publisher embargoes on the item you require, search under journal title in STELLA to find alternatives (other online providers or print versions). The recently added LEAN library app. is proving to be a useful way to find TCD subscribed journals and open access journals when searching Google or Google Scholar. For download instructions, see under Off-Campus Access. Equally you can activate TCD library settings within Google Scholar to find material available to registered students and staff (video instructions here). Finally, take a look at apps. (list compiled by Librarians in the University of Limerick) which allow you to find open access academic journal articles
If you are still experiencing problems accessing article content, consider applying for an inter-library loan. You can always email me to confirm whether or not a journal is in our collection.
Education journals on the open shelves are hardbound and located in the basement of the Ussher library at shelfmark 370. Current year issues are located immediately on the left of the entrance to the floor. You can copy one article from an issue. Copying facilities are in the adjacent room. The majority of print issues are in Storage. Use paper call slips (available at service counters) to request each item. Increasingly, journals are online. DURING COVID RESTRICTIONS, why not request a print article from our collection to be scanned for you?
Browzine on the library website allows you to personalise your use of online academic journals from our collection. Search by subject or title.
If you are using Google Scholar to find journal articles, make sure you access it from the Library website (via Databases page or title search in STELLA) to avail of our subscriptions to online journal collections (video instructions here). In addition, take a look at apps. (list compiled by Librarians in the University of Limerick) which allow you to find open access academic journal articles
Quick link to print journals here. Quick link to ejournals here.
