The magnetic field dependence of structures appearing in the current-voltage characteristics of long Josephson tunnel junctions is employed as a technique to characterize junctions dynamical states. We study rectangular junctions of overlap geometry having only one physical dimension larger than the Josephson penetration depth. In this geometrical configuration both the theoretical analysis and the understanding of the experimental data are simpler as the magnetic field generated by the bias current is negligible. The experimental results show that long Josephson junctions in a magnetic field exhibit a behaviour similar to the one of a type II superconductor subject to the application of an external magnetic field.