|  |
Home > Research Help > History of Science > Student Publications > Finding Articles
Journal articles are an important source of scholarly information. To find journal articles, you need to search article databases. The library's databases contain articles and other materials that have been peer-reviewed (reviewed by other researchers in the field) and are therefore dependable and trustworthy.
| Each database presents its information in a different way. Here are tips to help you when searching any database. - Do you know what you're looking for, or do you have no idea? If you're not sure about what you're looking for, use the General Keyword field so that your search is very wide.
- If you know that your topic might give a lot of results, limit your terms to a specific field, such as the Title field. This will make your search results more focused.
- Databases format Author Names differently; for example, last name, first initial. If the database has a thesaurus or index of authors, you should use it---it can save you time and frustration trying to think of all the variations of an author's name.
- It is often better to build your search in steps, and then combine them. If the database has a search history feature, it will show you each of your previous searches and allow you to mix and match them without doing a lot of retyping.
| | There are several options for getting the full text of an article. Some databases have little icons next to the article that indicate you can get the full-text by clicking on them. If you don't see one of those full-text icons, look for the "FIND IT" link. This link will take you to a screen that lists your options for gettting the article--there will be a link to the full text if we own that year online. If we do not, we might own it print, so choose "search the library catalog" to find out where the journal is. If there is no full-text icon in the database next to your article, check the JHU Libraries catalog to see if we own the year of the journal that contains your article. If we do, you can photocopy it. You might have luck using Google Scholar to find journal articles. Our "FIND IT" system is now linked to it, so you can click on "FIND IT" and use the pop-up box just like in a regular database--to get full text or go the catalog.
NOTE: Most search engines do *not* index most articles that are in databases. Don't rely exclusively on web search engines or you will miss articles that might be important to your research.
| | Because your research is multidisciplinary, you will need to search databases that focus on various subject areas. How do you find the most appropriate databases? - Go to the library's page that lists databases By Subject. Choose the link for Medicine or Psychology or other subject, and you will see a list of databases that index articles in that field.
- At the top of that same By Subject page is a link to Multidisciplinary and General References. These databases index articles from a broad range of fields. If you're just getting started, look in ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIERE, GENERAL SCIENCES FULL TEXT, or SOCIAL SCIENCES FULL TEXT.
|
Librarian: Sue Vazakas, 410-516-4153, svazakas@jhu.edu
Last revised: February 27, 2007
|
Finding Journal Articles for your Research
