Resources by format
- index
- Articles
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- Biographies
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- Business, company, and industry information
- Center for Research Libraries collections
- Citation and style manuals
- Databases
- Demographic visualizations
- Ebooks
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- Foreign language learning materials
- Journals
- Manuscripts
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- Movie reviews and criticisms
- Movies
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- Popular Reading
- Primary source databases
- Reserves
- Speeches and transcripts
- Streaming videos
- Test and measures
- Textbooks
- Theses and dissertations
- Tutorial and educational resources
Finding the full text of an article depends on what information you currently have:
Complete article citation
Use the Article Linker when you have a complete citation, including the journal title or ISSN, the volume/issue/number, page numbers and publication date. Enter all of your citation information in the Article Linker form (the numerical parts of your citation, including the date, are most important). You will hopefully get a link to the article online, or at least a link to the journal that contains the article (drill down using the articles volume, issue and page number to get to the specific article).
When print or microform copies of the journal are in our collection, links to the catalog record for these formats will be listed; you'll need to click through these links to see exactly which dates and volumes are available. Remember, you can use the ILLiad service to have articles from print journals scanned for you.
Finally, if neither online nor print access is available, use the link at the bottom to request the article from interlibrary loan.
Incomplete Article Citation
When you have an incomplete citation, such as just an article title, and therefore do not have sufficient information to find the full text, here are some strategies to use to find a more complete citation.
Return to the citing source
Return to the source that provided the citation to see if it provides a more complete citation. Perhaps you noted a reference in the text, while the complete citation is listed in a bibliography at the end.
Use Discovery Search
Because Discovery Search indexes content from many sources, you can search an article title or partial title and will likely get a result.
Search a discipline-specific database
Try searching the information you have, like the author or article title, in a subject specific databases . In addition to the complete citation, you may also find a link to the full text.
Search a general interest database
Sometimes search interface limitations of discipline-specific databases will not allow finding a more complete citation. Try using a general interest database like Academic Search Complete from EBSCOhost and search on what information you have.
Ask a librarian
Do not hesitate to ask a librarian for assistance in finding a more complete citation.
Abbreviated journal title
Searching for articles on a topic
Searching for articles within a specific journal
Sometimes you want to search for an article within a particular journal, magazine or newspaper; perhaps because your instructor requires you use that journal or you remember seeing the article earlier and now want to find that full text. (Note that if these example are not the case, you should not limit yourself to a single journal; use a database to find articles on a topic from among many journals.)
If the journal is indexed in Discovery Search, you can use the advanced search screen and search by the journal's title along with other search terms in their appropriate fields.
If the journal is not indexed (or not for the date range you require) in Discovery Search, first you need to find what sources index that journal. Use UlrichsWeb - Ulrich's Periodical Directory and search on the journal title or ISSN. Switch to the Online Availability section and look for the Abstracting & Indexing Sources and Full Text Sources sections. Compare the databases listed there (along with the coverage dates) with our list of databases. Most databases allow for limiting searches to a single journal.
- Last Updated: Dec 10, 2024 8:39 AM
- URL: https://guides.lib.vt.edu/find/byformat
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