Medical Information on the Internet

Module 5: Books and Journals (What's Free and What's Not)

Full-text: usually indicates that the whole journal article is available. Sometimes only a portion of the article is available, either the abstract—about a 250 word summary of the article; or the citation—the article's reference including the author, title, name of the journal or book, date published, volume, issue, and page numbers.
Journals: are a means of rapid dissemination of information to a scholarly audience. Journals usually arrive on a regular schedule (weekly, monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly), have a volume and issue number, and are usually peer-reviewed.
Open-access:: "A publication model wherein neither readers nor a reader's institution are charged for access to articles or other resources." (Library of Congress)
Peer-review: is an evaluation by colleagues or one's peers of the article prior to publication. Peer reviewers recommend whether or not an article should be published, and if published, whether it should be published with changes or modifications.