*Psychology

This guide will walk ou through getting to the full text of an article from PsycInfo.

1. Below are three article results from PsycInfo. Each shows one scenario for finding full text of articles. 

a. Article 6, the middle one, is the most straightforward. If your article offers a HTML or PDF link, clicking on either one of those will take you to the full text of the article. 

b. Article 5 has a "Click Here to Check for Full Text" link. Click on that link. It will open a new tab. Jump to 2 for additional instructions. 

c. Article 7 shows an article the database doesn't think the library has. Repeat the steps in 1b first. If there are no results, click Request through Interlibrary Loan to get the item from another library. There is no charge for students, staff, or faculty.

2. Article results will open in the main library interface, like below. Click on either the database name or the symbol next to it (both highlighted with green arrows). There may be multiple options under View Online. The content is the same; the formatting may be different.

NOTE: Sometimes database links will take you to the journal rather than the individual article. If that happens, you can use the citation to find the article. Look at the year, volume and issue in the citation, and use them to navigate to the article for which you're looking.

3. Download the article. This option will look different, and be in different places depending on the database. 

This guide will walk you through finding the full text of an article, starting from the main library search. 

1. From search results, first make sure what you're interested in is an article. It will be indicated by "Article" before the title - where the green check is in the picture. Then click on the article title, indicated by the red arrow in the image. 

2. Click "Available Online", indicated by the red arrow. This will show you the options for accessing the full article. This article has three options - highlighted by the red bracket. Pay attention to the dates listed under the title - you want to pick a source that includes the date of your article. All three options here are fine. Click any of the areas at which the green arrows point (titles and symbols). This will take you to the full article.

NOTE: Sometimes database links will take you to the journal rather than the individual article. If that happens, you can use the citation to find the article. Look at the year, volume and issue in the citation, and use them to navigate to the article for which you're looking.

3. Download the article. The download option will look a bit different in different databases. JSTOR, where the below pic is from, has the download button at the top, above the PDF viewer. 

Boolean Operators

Search terms are joined with words called Boolean operators. These are in all caps. If you use the Advanced Search option in PsycInfo, you can set options on the left hand side, between boxes. 

OR: Using OR expands your results - results have either term or both: 

AND: Using AND narrows results - results only have both terms: 

NOT: Using NOT excludes a term. This is used less frequently. Use it if there is one word that refers to multiple concepts and you only want a specific concept.

Choosing a Boolean Operator

When do you use which term?

• Join synonyms with OR. Ex: children OR adolescents OR juveniles OR teenagers 
• Join different search terms/concepts with AND. Ex: Children AND note taking
• Narrow in your search with NOT. Ex: Children NOT adolescents

Combine these search strategies and terms to make your search. You can use parentheses to group terms together. Ex: (children OR adolescents) AND (note taking OR study strategies)

Search Tips

• Use quotation marks to search a phrase. Ex: "note taking" Try both with and without quotes, as searching "note taking" might exclude "note-taking"
• Check your spelling! 
• Try synonyms - a thesaurus can be helpful. Remember, there's one built into PsycInfo
• THERE IS NO PERFECT SEARCH. If you don't get the results you want with the first terms you try, try other options and other combinations. 

Looking for more assistance with your research? Try our Research Tips and Tricks tutorial.