Nursing Graduate Student Library Research Guide - RUL: Locating articles in full text

Four ways to find full text in html or pdf

1.  The article is linked to full text from the citation in the database.  You may see “Full text” in the citation or the Adobe Acrobat pdf symbol.

2.  Click on  to perform a quick search of the library catalog which includes records of all journal holdings owned by the University Libraries.  You will be connected immediately to the article or to an intermediate screen.  By clicking on “Search the library catalog by Title,” you can verify that electronic access is not available.  You may also discover that print holdings are held in Dana which may influence your decision to check the shelf or request an electronic copy of the article.

3.  Search the library catalog directly to find information about all journal holdings including their extent and their format.

• Go to the Rutgers University Libraries homepage (http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu)

• Click on “Journals," the third tab from the left in the quick search box with the gray background to find the journals owned by the University Libraries.  Enter the title you want to know more about and then click on Search.  The default is “Journal title begins with.”  "Journal title keyword" is also available in the pull-down menu.  The journal title is often labeled “Source” in article citations.

• Look at the journal record.  Following the bibliographic description, you may see the identifier: “Electronic Access.”  The coverage dates will be included in the link so you’ll know in advance whether your article will be included.  When you open the link, you will see a list of volumes, issues and dates.  Use the information from your citation to connect to the article.

4.  Consult the list of electronic journals which may be searched by title or browsed by subject area.  (http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/pfi/search/basic?sid=aac1d79b-75e9-45a9-8cec-d6139af0d1d1%40sessionmgr107&vid=0&hid=116&sdb=edspub&tid=3000EP

 When the University Libraries doesn’t own a journal title you want, you may request a copy of the article for delivery to your desktop.  This process takes 1 to 2 days.  Start your request by going to the University Libraries home page and clicking on “Delivery and Interlibrary Loan.”  On the next screen, you’ll notice that the fifth choice, “Use Interlibrary Loan and Article Delivery Services for materials not in the Rutgers University Libraries collections,” is the one you want.  By clicking on the link, you will be ready to sign in to the requesting software.  If the requesting process is new to you, more information is described in the following brief tutorial.

         Using Google Scholar as a Rutgers database can offer advantages when looking for the full text of known articles.  Google Scholar frequently offers links to Full Text@Rutgers or another PDF if the item is available on the open Web.  In addition, Google Scholar will search standard periodical title abbreviations, such as those used in Medline or PubMed (Index Medicus format), which other databases usually will not.

        Use the Advanced Scholar Search to look for your article.  If searching author name, use just the last name to avoid problems with variant initials and so forth.  One efficient search is author last name plus exact phrase searching, in which you can use some exact phrase from the title of the article.  You can also specify journal name and date if you wish.

        References from Google Scholar can also be exported into RefWorks if you change the Scholar Preferences on the browser you are using.