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You can quickly locate the full text of a specific article in a library database.  If you only have the reference- no direct link- you may have to search within a few databases to locate the article.  You may want to start with your program databases (database types).  The Library Databases video shows how to locate databases for your program.

1.  Go to the Database page to review the full list of databases, and select one to search.  Remember you may need to search more than one to find your article.

2.  Go the Advanced Search page of the database.  The advanced search page has multiple search boxes, with a pull-down menu of search fields to the right of the search box.  This menu allows you to specify what the database searches for. 

3.  Enter the article information.  Some article titles can be vague and look similar to others, so it's best to search at least 2 of these 3 options:  

• Article title
• Author (last name only)
• Journal title

If an article has more than one author, you don't need to include all of them- just use one author's last name.

Each database may have different searching options.  The search fields may not exactly match the ones in this example, but you can always look for the same three fields in each database.  The Finding Articles video shows examples of this process in other databases.

4.  Review the results.  If you only searched for the journal name, or just the author's name, you may get more than one result- authors may write more than one article for the same publication. 

Please note:  You may need to do this search in a few different databases to locate the article.  If you have looked in several databases and can't locate your article, please Ask a Librarian for assistance.