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WHSL Introduction to the Medical Literature: Finding Print Journals

This guide will show you the basics of how to find information in print and online at the Witwatersrand Health Sciences Library

Find the Shelf Numbers (Locations)

e-Wits Catalogue

The e-Wits catalogue can be found at http://innopac.wits.ac.za

It is available from any computer, either at Wits or remotely.

When searching for journals on the e-Wits catalogue, make sure you use the Journal Title option from the drop down menu under "keyword", otherwise you will search for books and not journals.

Journal Title Abbreviations

You will have noticed that some journals also have abbreviated titles, eg. the New England Journal of Medicine is often abbreviated to NEJM, the Journal of the American Medical Association to JAMA, or the British Medical Journal to BMJ. Sometimes the British Medical Journal is abbreviated to Br Med J instead of BMJ.

Not all journals however have abbreviations. The Lancet is always Lancet (in full).

This can be confusing at first, but as you progress with your studies you will get used to the offical journal abbreviations, where these exist.

You can find out how to search for medical journal titles and their abbreviations by clicking on the tab Searching for Journal Titles and their Abbreviations. You will find this tab in a drop down menu under the tab called Finding Print Journals.