Library Resources: How Do I...?

Many of the articles listed online in our databases are available in full text, but not all! Sometimes when you find an article in a database, only the citation will be listed, not a full text link to the content of the article.

When this happens, try the following steps:

1. Search for the title of the journal that contains the article in our Electronic Journal Locator. If we have full text access to the journal through any of our databases, it'll appear in the results.
2. Search for the title of the journal in the Library Catalog to determine whether we have it in print. It's unlikely, but it never hurts to check!
3. If we don't own the journal in any form, you can request a copy of it through Interlibrary Loan, or try to find it at an area library.

When doing academic research, it is important to find and use what are called "peer-reviewed" articles.

What Are Peer-Reviewed Articles?

Peer-reviewed, or scholarly, articles are ideal because they have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Before these journals publish articles, they send them out to other experts in the field to be reviewed. The reviewers send back the article with their comments and concerns, which are then sent back to the author of the article to make revisions. Only after this has been done will a peer-reviewed journal publish an article. This is important to us as researchers because we can trust that peer-reviewed articles are reliable and accurate and that the information contained in them is grounded in sound scholarship.

How do I find Peer-Reviewed Articles?

Finding peer-reviewed articles can be easy, if you know where to look.

• Use peer-reviewed journals
  While this may sound obvious, there are some tricks that might be able to help. If your professor provides suggestions for certain journals to use, try searching for articles only in those journals. You can use the Library's Electronic Journal Locator to find what databases hold those journals. Also certain databases, such as JSTOR and ProjectMUSE, only contain peer-reviewed journals so you know you can trust your results from there. You can also do your own research to determine what political science journals are peer-reviewed by using the Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, located behind the Information Desk (though this can be very labor intensive).
   
• Limit your search to peer-reviewed journals
  When using databases that contain a mix of scholarly and non-scholarly journals, such as OmniFile, you can limit your search to only search peer-reviewed journals. Either in the advanced search, or on the left side of the screen after you begin your search, you can select the "Scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals" option to ensure that you only get results from peer-reviewed journals. Most databases have a similar search limiting option.

The Library provides a handy search tool that can be used to determine whether we have full-text access to any electronic journal online. Simply type the name of the journal in the search box below, click GO, and you will be brought to a list of results. As you browse through the results, you can click on the title of any journal listed, and a tab will open showing the full-text coverage provided with a direct link to database or platform where the journal is hosted. For subscription materials, you may be prompted to login to proceed. 
Click here to view a short video demonstration.

(Note: this search tool does not index journals which the Library owns in print. To search for print journals, use the Library Catalog.)

Open Access materials are licensed for free use online by anyone, regardless of their institutional affiliation. Kistler Library has compiled materials from many of the web's top open access content providers into a single search through WorldCat Discovery. Enter your search terms in the field below, click GO, and you will be brought to a list of results. From there, simply click the Access online or View full text links provided to be directed to any given article.

Consult these links for more help using and accessing Open Access resources: