A scholarly journal (also known as a periodical ) publishes research articles in a particular discipline.Journals are usually published monthly or quarterly and are organized by volume and issue. Some journals are peer reviewed which means each article is evaluated by a panel of experts before publication. An abstract is a short passage that describes the contents of a journal article. Most journals today are electronic, but some print editions are still published.
A database is a digital library containing a variety of electronic journals or books in a particular discipline. Most library databases are owned and operated by publishers. As with journals, your access is through the library's subscription, so you will be prompted to log in to your library account when viewing a database from off campus.
Peer review is in which experts review an article and suggest changes before publication. All journal articles are reviewed by an editor before publication; peer review uses a panel of experts who add an additional layer of quality control.
Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria from Cornell University Library
Why do I find only an abstract? The library's subscription doesn't always include every resource in a particular database. If you search a database and find only an abstract but want the entire article, you can request it through Interlibrary loan.