17 Journal Articles

Journal articles provide a topical discussion of legal issues, cases, and legislative developments. While journal articles can provide in-depth coverage of a legal issue, it is important to keep in mind that they may not always reflect current law. In law, scholarly journal articles are written by legal experts (academics, researchers, members of the judiciary or legal profession) for an academic audience and are supported by research, theory, and references. 

Peer review

You may be required to use information from academic journal articles that are peer reviewed. Peer review (also known as refereeing) is a process where other scholars in the same field (peers) evaluate the quality of an article and make suggestions for revision prior to publication. The aim is to ensure that the work is rigorous, coherent and based on sound research.

Watch Peer Review Articles (YouTube, 1m51s)

The example below will help you identify the parts of a journal article citation.

Anita Mackay and Lola Akin Ojelabi, ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Academic Integrity and Legal Referencing Using the AGLC’ (2022) 47(1) Alternative Law Journal 74, 77.

• Author/s: Anita Mackay and Lola Akin Ojelabi
• Article title: ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Academic Integrity and Legal Referencing Using the AGLC’
• Year of publication: 2022
• Volume and issue number: 47(1) (if the volume and issue numbers are not apparent on the article itself, check the spine of the print book or the online record)
• Journal title: Alternative Law Journal
  
• Commencing page number: 74
• Pinpoint reference: 77

Locating journal articles by citation

If you have the citation of a journal article, you may be able to locate it by searching for the article or journal title.

For example, for the citation Graeme Cross, ‘Provocation, Law Reform and the Medea Syndrome’ (2004) 28 Criminal Law Journal 133:

1. Go to Library Search
2. Enter the article title as a phrase search—”Provocation, Law Reform and the Medea Syndrome”
3. Verify that the result is in the correct Journal, author, year, volume, page number etc
4. Click on the title to access or locate the article.

Alternatively, use Library Search to find the journal title. This will help you verify:

1. whether the library holds the journal
2. if it is published online or in print
3. which database holds the journal
4. which volumes/years are held.

Watch Finding the full-text of a particular journal article (YouTube, 2m56s)