International Journal of Library and Information Studies Vol.4 (3) Jul-Sep, 2014 ISSN: 2231-4911 28 USE OF E- JOURNALS BY RESEARCH SCHOLARS IN ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY: A STUDY G. STEPHEN Department of Library and Information Science Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India. Email: stephenlisp@gmail.com E. ARUL ANANTHA REX Department of Library and Information Science Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India. ABSTRACT The phrase electronic journal or "e-journal" is used to denote a broader category of electronic publications that may or may not have a print counterpart. The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Library and Information Science define a journal as "the record of proceeding of transactions of a learned society". This study found in Ph.D scholars, more respondents (52.1%) participated in the study than the M.Phil. scholars (47.9%). It is pertinent to mention here that some responses received from M.Phil. Scholars were not usable as most of the questions were left unanswered. This study also shows that in M.Phil Scholars, 72.8 % respondents were aware of e- journals and 27.2 % were not aware of them. In Ph.D Scholars 100 % respondents were aware of e-journals. Overall, in research scholars, more than third of the respondents (86.9 %) were aware of e-journals while 13.1 % were not aware at all. This study found about place of accessing e-journals, In Ph.D Scholars, more respondents (54.5 %) became access of e-journals from Department Lab than in the Scholars M.Phil scholars (38.9%). 15.2% respondents in M.Phil Scholars and 14.7% Ph.D scholars came to access about e-journals from cyber cafe. Similarly In M.Phil Scholars, more respondents (27.1 %) became access of e-journals from university central library than in the Ph.D Scholars (12.5 %). 18% respondents both M.Phil Scholars and Ph.D scholars came to access about e-journals from hostel campus. Overall, in research scholars one important place of accessing e-journals were Department lab. It is also clear from the above table that majority of users have become accessing of e-journals by using Dep.lab Ph.D scholars and as well as in M.Phil Scholars, while least number of users access from cyber cafe. Keywords: E-resources, E-Journals, User Study, Internet, Open Access, Academic Library. 1. INTRODUCTION The twentieth century was shaped by sweeping changes in communication technologies. The emergence and use of information technology is the century’s most significant development affecting scholarly communication. The application of computers to information processing has brought several products and services to the scenes. Consequently, the academic community has undergone tremendous changes during these years, assuming new dimensions influenced by technology-driven applications. Libraries have witnessed a great metamorphosis in recent years both in their collection development and in their service