How Do I Find Journal Articles?: A Step-by-Step Guide
Tips to help you select an appropriate database for your subject, formulate your search, evaluate your results and locate the articles you want to read.
The Patrick Power Library Information Desk staff can also help you to select a database and find articles for your research (visit; call: 420-5544; or email: research@smu.ca).
| Finding journal articles is a 6-Step process: Step 1: Define your topic and identify key concepts Step 2: Select a database that is appropriate for your topic Step 3: Search the database using the key concepts of your topic Step 4: Read the citations and choose the articles you want to find Step 5: Check for online access to the full-text of the articles Step 6: No full-text? Check for another copy using Novanet |
What is a journal?
Journals (also called "periodicals" or "serials") are published on a regular basis in either paper or electronic format. An example is the Canadian Journal of Botany, which is published in 12 issues per volume, one volume per year.
Why should I use scholarly journals?
Professors often require that you use scholarly or academic journals for your assignments because scholarly journal articles:
- present current research on specialized topics
- are written by academics and researchers who are experts in the field
- are written for scholars, researchers, and professionals
- undergo an evaluation and screening process to ensure the research is of high quality, called peer-review, before they are published.
To learn how scholarly journals differ from popular magazines (such as Popular Science) and trade publications (such as Advertising Age), see the Patrick Power Library's Scholarly Journals vs Popular Magazines guide.
How do I find journal articles?
You can search for journals in the Novanet catalogue or in the "Journals A to Z" list. However, neither of these lists individual journal articles, so finding articles requires some different strategies. To find articles, follow these six steps:
| Step 1: Define your topic and identify key concepts |
Before you start searching for journal articles, it is a good idea to spend some time fine-tuning your topic, so that you have a clear idea of what information you need and how you will search for it.
1. Define your topic:- Ask questions to clarify your thoughts, such as: who, what, where, when, why, and how?
- Place limits on your topic. Focusing on one aspect can make the research more manageable.
- Check assignment guidelines and verify that your topic satisfies the requirements.
- If aspects of your topic are still unclear or ill-defined, do some background reading on it, contact your professor or TA, and/or visit the library's Information Desk for help.
2. Identify the key concepts:
- Write your topic out as a single sentence or question. For example, "What effect does music have on babies?"
- Look at your question and identify the key concepts: these are words, phrases, etc., that could be used to search for articles on your topic.
Example: "What effect does music have on babies?" |
||
| Key Concepts: | music | babies |
- Make a list of alternate words that can also be used to search for articles. These words can be synonyms, related terms, or alternate spellings of the key concepts in your topic.
| Example: "What effect does music have on babies?" | ||
| Key Concepts: | music | babies |
| Alternate Words: | classical | infants |
| Mozart | newborns | |
| Step 2: Select a database that is appropriate for your topic |
Once you have defined your topic, you will need to use a journal article database or a periodical index to help you find articles.
Databases and indexes:
- List the articles published in magazines, journals and/or newspapers.
- Come in electronic format (as a database) or in paper (as a periodical index). This guide focuses on databases. Many databases also contain or link to articles in full-text.
- May cover a broad range of subjects, or may be devoted to specific subjects or disciplines.
- List the content published in a defined number of journal titles over a limited time period. (Depending on your topic and whether or not you need older materials, you may have to look in more than one database or index.)
The library's databases can be found by clicking on journal articles and databases on the library's homepage. From here, you can choose a database from the alphabetical list or from a list grouped by subject areas. If you click on the Search Multiple Databases tab, you can also choose to run your search in more than one database at a time.
If you aren't sure which database you should search, you can:
- Mouse over the title of each database for a short description of what's in it.
- Try your search in the Article Quick Search box.
- Your topic will be searched in a group of the library's most widely used full-text databases. This will probably get you some good articles and can help you decide where to look further.
- This option is also available right on the library's home page.
- Click on the Search Multiple Databases tab to see a list of databases grouped into subjects.
- You can select one or more databases to search by clicking the box next to each, or you can select the entire subject group by checking the box next to its heading (e.g., Science).
- See the library's subject guides for suggestions on useful databases for research in that subject.
- Ask for help: either visit the Information Desk, call 420-5544, or email research@smu.ca.
| Step 3: Search the database using key concepts |
Once you have selected a database or group of databases, you are ready to start your search:
- If you are working off-campus, you will need to log in with your SMU Network username (S number) and password after you click on the database.
- Use your key concepts and alternate words to create a search statement (e.g., music AND infants).
- Type your search statement in the search box and hit Enter or click the Search button.
- Evaluate your results and look for other search terms to try. Do further searches with different combinations until you have found what you need.
Search Tips for Better Results:
- Combine your key concepts with commands called Boolean operators. The most common are AND and OR:
AND is used to combine keywords with different meanings. Because it will only retrieve records in which all off the search terms are present, AND helps you find fewer results. For example:
| Search terms | Number of records retrieved from PsycINFO |
| babies | 5,298 |
| music | 14,782 |
| babies AND music | 41 |
In this example, the search for babies AND music retrieved the smallest number of records because it only retrieved the ones containing both words.
OR is used to combine keywords that are similar or related in meaning. Because it will retrieve records that contain any of the words entered, OR helps you find more results. For example:
| Search terms | Number of records retrieved from PsycINFO |
| babies | 5,298 |
| infants | 27,901 |
| babies OR infants | 31,733 |
In this example, the search for babies OR infants retrieved the greatest number of records because it retrieved ones that contain either word.
NOTE: To use both AND and OR together in a search, you must group together the keywords that are similar or related in meaning, so that the database can understand your search statement. You can use parentheses to group:
e.g., music AND (babies OR infants)
Or, you can use the database's advanced search screen to group similar concepts together. In the following example, each line represents one new concept, and the database combines the lines using AND:
- Refine your search by using search limiters. Typical options include the ability to limit search results by:
- date (e.g., limit your results to articles published in the last five years)
- publication Type (e.g., limit your results to articles in peer-reviewed journals)
- full-text (limit results to articles available in full-text format)
- Expand your search by using special symbols, which allow you to search for alternate endings and spellings of words,
- truncation - for example, a search for librar* would retrieve records that contain the word "library", "libraries", "librarian", or "librarians"
- wildcard - for example, a search for wom#n would retrieve records that contain either "woman" or "women"
Frequently used truncation and wildcard symbols include the asterisk (*), question mark (?), and exclamation mark (!). To see which (if any) truncation and wildcard symbols are supported by the database that you are using, and to learn about other search features, check the database Help guide. - truncation - for example, a search for librar* would retrieve records that contain the word "library", "libraries", "librarian", or "librarians"
| Step 4: Read the citations and choose the articles you want to find |
After performing your search, you will see a result list of article citations, which will tell you the title and author(s) of each article, as well as the title, volume, and date of the publication in which the article appeared.
e.g., if you search for "music AND infants" in the EBSCO Academic Search Premier database, you might see a citation like this:
Using the above citation as a guide:
- Examine your results list. Click on an article title to see the complete or detailed citation, which often includes an abstract or summary of the article.
- Check to see if any of the titles sound relevant to your topic.
- Record and retain (e.g., print or email) the citation information for each article that you want. You may need this information to locate the article and you will need it to cite the article in your work. To learn more about creating a bibliography or reference list, see Style Guides and Citations. You can also use RefWorks to manage your citations; to set up an account, see RefWorks.
| Step 5: Check for online access to the full-text of the articles |
Once you have selected the articles that you want to read, you will need to locate the text of those articles. First, check to see if the database includes full-text access to the article.
If full-text access is available, you will see a link with the citation (e.g., Full-text , HTML, PDF, etc.) or an icon (e.g, 
or 
). Click on the link to open the document. Full-text comes in two main formats:
- HTML or
: This format has the text of the article, but can lack graphical and other formatting elements (such as pictures, tables, and page numbers) found in the printed version.
- PDF or
: This is the page image of the printed version of the article. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this format (download it here). A PDF can take longer to load, but the graphics and other formatting elements will be the same as in the printed version.
If you do not see one of these links, look to see if there is a link for possible full-text, e.g., 
or 
. Click on the link and follow the subsequent links to see if you have access to the article through a different database.
| Step 6: No full-text? Check for another copy using Novanet |
If full-text electronic access is unavailable, you will need to find a paper copy of the journal's volume and issue where the article was published.
Click on the Novanet catalogue link in the ASIN resolver (after you click on 
). Or open Novanet and search for the journal title yourself.
e.g., to search for the article we found in Step 4:
- Select the Journals tab at the top of the screen. Enter the journal title (not the article title) in the Search for box and select Title begins with... from the search type list on the left. Click Go.
- Look for the journal title in the results list and click on the title to view the record. If you see Saint Mary's University Serials Collection in the list of library holdings, you have found a paper copy of the journal at Saint Mary's. Click on this link to see which years and volumes are here.
- Most of Saint Mary's print journals are shelved alphabetically by the journal title on the third floor of the library. You can borrow these journals from the library.
- If Saint Mary's doesn't have the journal, maybe another Novanet library does. Click on the library name to view which volumes and years that library owns.
- If the journal is owned by another Novanet library, you can either visit that library or request a copy of the article to be delivered to you (Novanet Express).
- If the journal is not listed in Novanet, you can request a copy by Interlibrary Loan.
NOTE: For more information on searching the Novanet catalogue, see Using Novanet to Find Books.
Last Modified:
March 13, 2009
This page last modified Tuesday, 17-May-2011 15:34:46 ADT