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Finding Periodicals (Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers) in the Library

This guide provides instructions for finding periodicals in the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons (Library).

What is a Periodical?

A periodical is an item published in regular (or periodic) intervals. Examples of periodicals are newspapers, journals, magazines, and other resources that are published daily, monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. The Nancy Thompson Learning Commons (NTLC) subscribes to over 55,000 periodicals primarily available online.

How to Find a Specific Periodical

The Periodicals A-Z List is the gateway to all of the periodicals available through the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons (NTLC).  Follow the instructions listed below to determine if the NTLC subscribes to a particular journal, magazine, or newspaper.

  • Go to the Learning Commons website https://libguides.kean.edu/NTLC.
  • Click Periodicals A-Z below the Search WorldCat Discovery box.
  • Type the periodical (journal) name in the search box.
  • Click the search button.
  • If the periodical title appears in the results list with a Full Text Access link, full-text online articles are available for the date range indicated through the database(s) listed immediately below the title.
  • Click the database(s) listed below the title to access the full-text content. If you are off-campus, you will be asked to type your Kean Google username and password in a login box. 
  • If the periodical title does not appear on the list, check with a librarian to verify that you are using the correct title for the periodical. If the library does not subscribe to the journal, you may request a copy of the desired article via Interlibrary Loan.
  • When the Library does not own a book or periodical, you may request that the item be sent from another lending library through Interlibrary Loan. Copies of articles will be emailed to you. 

What Is a Peer Reviewed Journal?

A scholarly, or peer-reviewed, journal contains articles that have been critiqued, reviewed, or refereed by scholars in a specific field.

Periodical Databases

You can find articles from scholarly journals, popular magazines, or newspapers by searching in periodical databases.  Periodical databases always contain:

  • Citations -- author, title of article, title of journal, volume, issue, date and pages.

They may also contain:

  • Abstracts -- summaries of article content.
  • Complete articles -- in full-text or pdf image format.

When full-text links are not available, you can check for full-text access in other databases by clicking  Full Text Finder.

Please note: sometimes you see only the   symbol (and not the words "Full Text Finder"). In these cases, click the symbol to check for full-text access in other databases.