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Finding Journal Articles
Journal articles can be located in several different ways:
- by using an online database (most commonly)
- from bibliographies in books, book chapters, or other journal articles
- Word of mouth (be careful, it may be erroneous. Ask a librarian for assistance)
If you're searching an online database with full text content, and the article you want
has a link to the full text, then congratulations, you've found your article!
On the other hand, if the article is not available in full text online, or you've been given
a bibliography or a list of articles to go locate, or you're not quite sure of what to look for,
well read on....
Interpreting a Citation
In any event, the more information you have about the article that you are looking for,
the easier it will be to locate it. Ideally, your citation would look more or less like this:
| Stephenson J. Global AIDS epidemic worsens. JAMA. 291(1):31-2, 2004 Jan 7.
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The parts of this citation are as follows:
| Stephenson J. | The author(s) of the article. Often just last name and initials |
| Global AIDS epidemic worsens | The title of the article |
| JAMA | The title of the journal ("source"). What you will be looking for on the shelf. This
is often abbreviated |
| 291 | Volume number. When looking for journals on the shelf, also look for this number. The volume number
usually changes with the year, but there are exceptions |
| (1) | Issue number |
| 31-2 | Page numbers. Often just the starting page will be given |
| 2004 Jan 7 | Year and date information. Can be used to cross check a citation that you are unsure of (the year and
volume number of the citation should match that of the issue on the shelf) |
More information on locating journals can be found on the page, Finding Journals.
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