Academic Journals & Articles
Academic journals are an important source of information for your study and research. You may think of them a bit like scholarly magazines. Journals publish issues periodically, for example monthly or quarterly, and most academic journals are peer-reviewed. Journals contain articles relating to a specific subject/topic area; they are essential for finding original research, analysis, case studies and literature reviews that you can then cite in your assignments.
The best place to start your search for academic journals is Library Search. You may also search for academic journal articles in specific Engineering databases.
More guidance on using Library Search to find academic journal articles can be found further down the page.
What is a peer-reviewed journal?
Academic journals are peer-reviewed. Peer-review is a quality control process. Articles are read by specialists in the field of research before they are published. These readers (called reviewers) check that the article is based on good research, that the methodology is appropriate, that the data collected is valid and credible, that the article brings new knowledge to the field of research.
Spotlight on Engineering Journals
Here are some examples of specific academic journals to support you with your research and learning. Click the tabs above for more information about each journal, or click the images below to take you straight to the journal record in the library catalogue. Under 'View Online' select the publisher's information to browse journal content.
Energy and Environmental Science is an international journal that publishes high quality research relating to energy conservation and storage, alternative fuel technologies and energy conservation.
Topics include:
- Solar energy conversion and photovoltaics
- Solar fuels and artificial photosynthesis
- Fuel cells
- Hydrogen storage and (bio) hydrogen production
- Materials for energy systems
- Capture, storage and fate of CO2, including chemicals and fuels from CO2
- Catalysis for a variety of feedstocks (for example, oil, gas, coal, biomass and synthesis gas)
- Biofuels and biorefineries
- Materials in extreme environments
- Environmental impacts of energy technologies
- Global atmospheric chemistry and climate change as related to energy systems
- Water-energy nexus
- Energy systems and networks
- Globally applicable principles of energy policy and techno-economics
Another journal from the same publishers (RCS) that focuses on energy technology, emerging materials and methods is Energy Advances.
Topics include:
- Batteries, supercapacitors, hybrid devices and other energy storage technologies
- Bioenergy, biofuels and the biorefinery
- Carbon capture, storage or utilisation
- Catalysis and chemical engineering for energy applications
- Fuel cells
- Hydrogen production and storage
- Modelling, machine learning and characterisation for energy materials & systems
- Solar energy conversion and photovoltaics
International Journal of Conditioning Monitoring and Diagnostic Engineering (COMADEM) is a leading edge technology management journal covering all aspects of monitoring, diagnosing, prognosing, maintenance and smart management of all industrial assets.
Topics covered include:
- Advanced Sensor Technology
- Higher Education and Training
- Health & Safety
- Intelligent Manufacturing
- Risk Management
- Technology Management
- Industrial Logistics
- Industrial Tribology
- Bio-medical Engineering
- RCM
- TQM
- Structural health Monitoring
- Advanced Signal Processing
- Machinery/Process Health Monitoring
- Environmental Management
International Journal of Strategic Engineering Asset Management publishes research and case studies covering all aspects of engineering asset management.
Topics include:
- Financial risks/asset investment decisions, life cycle costs/production economics
- Engineering risks, technical integrity, operations management, risk analysis
- Asset maintenance, asset health monitoring/tools/technologies
- Advanced ICTs, data management, decision support technologies
- Systems design, technology selection/application strategies
- Asset modifications/project management, asset performance optimisation
- Work processes, information/knowledge management
- Human factors, organisational issues, human-process-technology interface
- Organisational design, human resource/competence management
- Industrial services/contracts and integrated logistics/supply chain management
- Performance measurement/management, productivity/quality/change management
- Business cases of strategic assets, education
- Regulations/standards for asset management, legal aspects
- Sustainable assets/asset processes, environmental technologies/management
- Global trends/implications, socio-economic aspects
Where to Look for Engineering Journal and Articles
Try using Library Search as a starting point for searching for journal articles (see instructions further down the page).
You may also want to try searching in a specific database for Engineering, see the list of Databases for Engineering available from the menu above.
Click on the tabs below to explore three databases in more detail.
Emerald Engineering eJournal Collection is a collection of 34 full text journals covering a wide range of subjects from engineering practice.
Topics typically include: Artificial Intelligence, autonomous systems, colourants and polymers, computational engineering, corrosion, data analytics, electronic circuit and devices, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, Internet of Things, robotic technology, sensors, smart materials, sustainability.
You can access the database from the Library Databases A-Z or by clicking the link at the top of this tab.
Once you are on the Emerald Insights homepage click on 'Browse our content' and 'Books and journals'
From the Books and journals page select Engineering from the drop down Subject menu and click on Journals
Click on the title you are interested in and you will be able to browse the current issue and have full access to the back catalogue. You can also set up a table of contents alert for any journal titles you are interested in by registering for an Emerald Profile
Searching for & Accessing Journal Articles
The Library subscribes to journals chosen by the Faculty that you can access in print and online. The most effective way of searching is to use Library Search so that you can search across all available sources.
Watch this video to see how to get started with using Library Search to find journal articles:
Watch this video for a demonstration of the advanced search feature in Library Search:
Sometimes you may find accessing the full text of an article that you haven’t found through Library Search difficult. You may have found the article on Google Scholar or PubMed where the links do not take you to full text, or through a publishers website that asks you to pay for access, or from a list of references in an article or a book.
Using Library Search to search for the title of the article you have found is the best way to solve this. If the University has a subscription to the article you need, Library Search will give you the best link to access the full text. If what you are looking for is not available through Library Search, then you can request a copy of the article through Inter Library Loan. Watch the video below for a demonstration:
[Note: the Resource Sharing option shown in the video is now labelled: Inter Library Loan]
If you know the title of the Journal you would like to search for select the ‘Journal Titles’ option from the library web page. It is easier to start at our website and follow a link from there to the journal or specific article but sometimes you will need to log in once you are on the publisher’s website.
- Journal Title Search
Search our journal subscriptions by journal title.