Library Basics: Finding Articles

Background Information

General

Social Sciences

Natural and Health Sciences

Found an article you like, but no full text?

We can still get it for you!  First click Find it @ UD

Academic Search Premier is a general database that contains both popular and scholarly articles from a variety of disciplines and sources. Great place to start if you need to confirm the viability of a topic.

The tips in this video will apply to most other EBSCO databases as well, including SocINDEX, ERIC, , and more. Subject specific databases like those may have some special features like unique limiters, but otherwise they will function the same way. The name of the database will be listed above the search bar:

JSTOR is a general database that contains primarily full-text scholarly articles from a variety of disciplines. It differs from other UD databases in the fact that it searches the entire full-text of the articles, but has few options for limiting searching and no subject headings. This database is particularly useful when you already know some specifics about your topic.

Some articles are full-text in the database you selected to search in. Other times it may be located in one of the other 50 databases we subscribe to. Sometimes you'll find a citation for an article we don't have immediate access to; we can usually get you these as well. This service is part of your affiliation with the university; don't ever pay for access to an article. We can typically get it for you. This will show you how to do that.

​One strategy for research is to use bibliographies to find additional relevant research on a topic. Finding the full-text of a source from a citation often requires a different type of search to locate. Here are the steps:

1. Determine what kind of source it is. Is it a book chapter? A journal article? (Easiest way to do this is to look for a volume or issue number. Then you know it's a journal article!)
2. If it is a book, look in the catalog to see if we own it. If we don't, you need to Interlibrary Loan it. Do so by clicking "Check Availability" and then the "Request Item through Interlibrary Loan/E-Delivery" button. (This will require you to log in use your UD username and password.)
3. If it is an article, use the Journal List to search for the title of the journal to see which database it is in. (Journal titles are usually in italics in APA citations.) Use the rest of the information in the citation to locate it in the correct database. If the journal is indexed in a database, but we don't have access to the full-text, use Find It to request the title. If it's not in a database, use Interlibrary Loan to request the article. (Use the Article link under the New Requests menu on the left side.)