---
sourceDocument: Australia API Reference
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/api-reference

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia API Reference

ft:clusterId :

    - crapiref

bundleId :

    - crapiref

workflow :

    - Creator


---

# Retrieving journal entries

# Retrieve journal entries using direct web services {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated March 12, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

To get the contents of a journal field, make a second soap request against the
sys_journal_field table to pull the appropriate journal records back for the record in
question.

The URL for the WSDL would be in the following format.

    https://instance-name.service-now.com/sys_journal_field.do?WSDL

To retrieve the journal entries, you will first need to query the incident for its sys_id
value, and then supply it as the <kbd class="ph userinput">element_id</kbd> value in a
getRecords call. To specify records only for the
comments field, specify the value <kbd class="ph userinput">comments</kbd> for
the element field. For example, a SOAP request would look like the
following:

    <soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv= "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:sys= "http://www.service-now.com/sys_journal_field" ><soapenv:Header /><soapenv:Body><sys:getRecords><element>comments</element><element_id>9d385017c611228701d22104cc95c371</element_id></sys:getRecords></soapenv:Body></soapenv:Envelope>

**Related concepts**   

* [Use forms to limit or extend the query response](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ii_m6Bzgwg0ZW2dpIz24aw "On occasion, there is a need to limit the number of field values that a SOAP query returns.")
* [Return the display value for reference variables](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/JZhqF30lLvLzRcxvS68_1g "When you query a record using a get or getRecords function, the instance returns all fields associated with that record. The fields are often reference fields that contain a sys_id for a record on another table.")
* [Clear values from a target instance](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/xPNv4OYcpXLIXfQl5INsIw "You can pass an empty value through a SOAP parameter to clear the respective value in the target instance.")
* [Retrieve choice fields using direct web services](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/UifnhqOESSERMgoadayL0Q "To retrieve or set choice fields, use the choice Value, not the Label.")
* [Persist an HTTP session across all SOAP calls](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/kpFpElBcNaeeqZXIlOoKPA "In circumstances when a SOAP client makes many calls in a short amount of time, you may want to re-use a single HTTP session for all SOAP calls.")  
**Related reference**   

* [SOAP direct web service API functions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/gJf5KkZWYK~yTJTjXATl_A "The standard SOAP API is a set of small, globally defined functions that can be performed on a targeted resource.")