In this blog, we will be looking at how to reference online journal articles in your writing using the OSCOLA referencing system. We have already touched on this topic in my blog OSCOLA Referencing Summary for Journal Articles, but now we can look in a bit more detail. Hopefully, this will be helpful for your writing!
We will be considering what the difference is between physical and online versions, how you should cite an article that is available in both formats and whether online journals are a reliable reference. If you are already confident on this sort of background knowledge, please do skip ahead to the section on referencing!
How Do You Cite a Journal Available in Print and Electronically?
To start with, let’s think about how to cite a journal article that you have read electronically. The first thing you need to know is whether it is electronic only (i.e. there is no print version) or whether there is also a physical, printed copy available that you could have read instead.
How do you know? Well, one of the easiest ways to find out is simply by searching for the publisher and publication. You may then find their own website, which will likely have details of how you can buy their publications. Alternatively, you may find their publications for sale on other websites in multiple formats.
Now that you know whether a print copy is available, how do you cite it? If there is a print copy available, it’s very simple – just cite the article as a regular print one. You can find more details on this in my blog OSCOLA Referencing Summary for Journal Articles. It doesn’t matter which format you read the journal article in, still reference the print version if there is one. There is no need to refer to or acknowledge the electronic version of the journal that you read the article in.
On the other hand, if there is only an electronic version of the journal article available, you will need to reference this in a new style. This requires different information and a different format to print journals, so make sure you have the right version! We will look at the referencing format later in this blog.
Are Online Journals a Reliable Reference?
We will now be considering the reliability of online journals as a reference in your work. For this section, we will be focusing on articles that are only available online with no option to read them as a print version. Online journals can be a very good reference in your work and strengthen your writing, but it is important to always evaluate them for reliability before using them.
You can do this in the same way that you would for any other source, taking a number of factors into account. One of these is the currency of the articles, i.e. how recent is it? If the article was written quite a long time ago, it is a less reliable reference as new legislation surrounding the area could well have been passed and new cases decided, changing the law. However, if it was only written in the last year, it gives a much better picture of the current law and should be more reliable in this aspect.
Another factor to consider is the authority of the article, which means considering who wrote and published it. Most articles will give the author, along with any qualifications they have in the subject area. They may also give details of the institution where the author works, which can help when trying to determine the reliability of the source. Journals that are only available online tend to be published by smaller, independent companies, so you may need to take extra care checking how reputable these are.
In addition, consider what the purpose of the articles is. Is it purely informative? Is it trying to convince the reader of a certain viewpoint? If the article is writing to persuade, it will bring with it a bias one way or another. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use it as a source – this kind of writing can be a useful addition to the discussion area of your writing, as you can cite other writers’ viewpoints. However, it would probably not be the best article to use to support a fact-based, informative piece of writing.
How Do You Reference Online Journals?
The basic format to reference an online journal article if the year also identifies the volume is:
Author, | ‘Title’ | [Year] | Journal name or abbreviation | <Web address> | Date accessed
On the other hand, if there a separate volume number:
Author, | ‘Title’ | (Year) | Volume(Issue) | Journal name or abbreviation | <Web address> | Date accessed
For example:
Graham Greenleaf, ‘The Global Development of Free Access to Legal Information’ (2010) 1(1) EJLT <http://ejlt.org/article/view/17> accessed 27 July 2010.
You only need to include the issue number if the page numbers restart in each issue. If you do include the issue number, it comes straight after the volume number in brackets.
The date accessed should be the most recent date you accessed the article, to ensure your readers can find the correct version of the article you are referring to.
If you need to pinpoint a certain part of the article, this should come before the web address in the reference. Remember that you don’t need to include pinpoints in your bibliography, just in footnote citations.
Wrapping Up
I hope that this helps you to reference online journals in your writing and that you now know more about the background of this type of source. Do come back in two weeks to find out how to reference working papers in OSCOLA!
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