Finding Articles

Articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings and scholarly books are valuable sources of information. Current articles are often more up-to-date than books in print, and older ones may provide historical perspective.

There are several different types of articles, including:

• Popular magazines provide general reading matter on a variety of subjects.
• Specialized journals provide discussion in a particular field.
• Scholarly journals (i.e., peer reviewed, or refereed) provide original research as well as discussion and commentary.
• Trade publications provide articles on topics of interest to a particular profession.
• Newspapers provide a contemporary view of events. Newspapers from different parts of the world can provide an insight into how a particular issue is viewed over time and in different places.

Choose the resource that best meets your needs for the assignment you're doing.

Key Terms

Abstracts are summaries of articles, chapters, or books. Indexes that include abstracts often have the word "abstracts" in the title (e.g., Psychological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts). Reading an article's abstract gives you an idea of whether or not you want to read the actual article.

Citations, or references, give the complete information necessary to find an article. Citations include information on which issue (volume and date) and pages of the journal/magazine/newspaper/conference proceeding/book contain the article.

Scholarly Journals are often peer reviewed or refereed, which means that these articles submitted for publication are evaluated by scholars working in the same field. However, some journals are considered scholarly even though they do not go through this process.

Periodicals are journals, magazines and newspapers. The term is sometimes loosely used to cover other publications as well, such as annuals and conference proceedings.

Trade publications provide articles on topics of interest to particular professions and trades. Two examples are Police Quarterly and Fire Fighter Today.

Q: Where do I find references/citations?

Find citations in databases, bibliographies, among the references at the end of the article, chapter or book you are reading, or in periodical indexes and abstracts.

Q: Once I have a reference/citation for an article in a journal or other periodical (or in a book), where do I look? 

For journal articles, check the Journals at the MKP Library link on our home page to see if we have the journal. Use the search box at the top of the screen to search by journal title (not article title) or title keyword. If we provide access to the journal you need, you will see it listed.  If it is online, you will see a date range and database name with a live link. 

Example: searching for Foreign Affairs, we see that there are seven databases that carry this title.

Click on the link you want. You will need to go through the Proxy screen. Your UNH ID number is the 16-digit number on the back your UNH photo ID. Note that different databases may cover different years.

A link labeled UNH Library Holdings leads you to our Library Catalog, which tells you what dates and formats we have for that journal in print or microform.  Following the UNH Library Holdings link above, we get the following record of what the library carries for Foreign Affairs:

The library has 1994-current in print, as well as coverage from 1922-1993 on microfilm. Ask staff for help retrieving microfilm. Remember that you will need the issue number/date and page numbers to find the article.

Some books and journals are available online from the catalog - look for the  Linked Resources tab. If the article is in a book, check the Library Catalog link on our home page, and search by title or author to see if we have the book in our library, whether it is available, and where to find it. 

Q: What do I do if the MKP Library does not own an item?

If we do not have the issue of the periodical or the book you need, we can request it for you through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). This means we will borrow the items you need from a library that does carry them. ILL forms are at the Information Desk, as well as online. For online forms, use the Proxy link on our home page, entering your UNH ID in the box. The ILL forms are at the top of the screen.

Using Periodical Indexes and Abstracts to Find Citations, (or References) to Articles

Periodical indexes and abstracts provide references, or citations, to articles in periodicals. Indexes and abstracts are available in paper and electronic formats. Most commercial databases are electronic indexes to periodical literature, and, in addition, often provide the full text of the articles cited.

♦♦Search Strategies:

1. Choose an appropriate index. Some indexes are subject-specific (e.g., choose the Humanities Index if you are looking for literary criticism). Others, like the General OneFile database, are general, and good for most disciplines. For online databases, you may consult the Subject List of Databases, which will narrow down the databases for you in subject areas (such as Business, Criminal Justice, Education, and more).

2. Get some background and context, as well as other terms to describe your topic. Read an encyclopedia entry about your subject to find terms to try. For example, look up "Johnson County War" to find out when and where it took place, who the major players were, and why it is significant. This information allows you to widen or narrow your search and gives you more people's names, topics, etc., to search by.

3. Start your search. Most indexes allow you to search several ways (author, title, subject, sometimes keyword), and to choose certain years to search.

4. For both paper and electronic indexes (databases), if you are searching by topic, try your topic as a subject heading ("Atomic Weapons"). If it is not used as a heading, there may be a cross-reference to the correct heading (e.g., "Nuclear Weapons"). If not, think of other words to describe your topic, and use keyword searches. To find search words to use for your topic, you might use the "thesaurus," "topic" or "subject" options in any given database. Once you find a potential article, look at the headings/keywords and the abstracts to see if the article will be useful.

5. Find more article citations than you might need in case the library does not own all the periodicals for the articles you have selected. All databases let you print a list of citations, often called a "marked list." This list is useful when you are trying to find the articles or are compiling your reference list/bibliography.

♦Paper Indexes. Paper indexes usually appear several times a year, often monthly or bi-monthly, with annual (yearly) or semi-annual cumulations. An annual cumulation contains the indexing for the entire year in that one issue. For example, Psychological Abstracts appear monthly. Every year, all the citations from the January to December monthly issues are collected together into an annual cumulation, often broken into several volumes. The index provides numbers that refer you to the full entry in the monthly issues.

Look at the front of paper indexes to find out what publications are indexed, for an explanation of the abbreviations used, including a list of abbreviations of periodical titles, and how the information is organized. Sample entries help you understand the citations you find.

When searching in a paper index, also make sure you're using the correct volume or section and year. Often the title/author sections will be separate from the subject section, and some literary indexes, such as the Humanities Index, include a separate section for book reviews, listed by the title of the book reviewed.

♦Databases/Electronic Indexes are the online versions of print resources, but the fact that they can be searched electronically leads to some differences from print. Electronic indexes allow you to search several years at once, and to do more complex searches than just title, author and subject. They include keyword searches, and allow you to do advanced searches combining several types of search techniques, to use Boolean operators like AND, OR and NOT, and to search the text in citations and abstracts as well as the full text of articles -- if the full text is included in the database.

Electronic indexes will sometimes include the full text of the article along with the citation. Look for links to download, e-mail or print the articles. PDF (portable document format) and HTML are two common forms of online text. PDF takes longer to download and print, and looks like a photocopy of the original. Make a note of the database you got it from, since you will need this when you cite the source. HTML will show you the date and database name, but does not always print out properly or show page numbers.

Some databases provide an online thesaurus, subject guide or topic guide, which will help you find words to use. All provide online help and/or tutorials, some of which are listed in our Annotated List of Databases.

Reading Article Citations/References

In print indexes, the information about each article is usually in the following order:

Title of the article. Author of the article. Title of the periodical. Volume number: issue number (date of the issue): page(s).  Here's an example:

It was rubbish then and it's rubbish now. Advertising Age 78:36 (Sept 10, 2007): p1. 

This information might be presented differently in different indexes, so remember what you're looking for, and that there are two titles - the title of the article itself and the title of the source it's in (journal, book, or newspaper).

Chapter/article in a book: Article title - Article author - Book title - Book author/editor - Publisher information (city: name) - Date - Page numbers.

Journal article: Article title - Article author - Date - Journal title - Issue (volume/date) - Page numbers.

Newspaper: Article title - Article author - Newspaper title - Date - Section - Edition - Page numbers and sometimes column number.

Note: Check the guidelines for presenting this information according to the style you choose (see the next section). Not all styles require all the information listed above, and the order may vary.
 

Citing Articles in Your Paper

Librarians have produced guides on citing your sources according to APA (American Psychological Association) and Turabian styles, as well as a general Style Sheet that includes links to online guides to several other styles, including the MLA (Modern Language Association) style. You can also find our guides in print near the Information Desk. Always consult your instructor to ask what style or adaptation they'd like you to use.

Overview of Finding Articles

If you have a citation from a bibliography, an article you already have, or some other source, go to steps 5 and 6. 

If you don't have a citation, but just a topic to research, go to step 1.

1.  Choose an appropriate index or database. How do you find an appropriate one? Consult our Annotated List of Databases. Our subject-specific guides also list databases of particular interest to that field of study.

2.  Choose a term or terms to search by. For online resources, check the online guide to terms used, often called a topic guide, thesaurus or subject guide, if available. Experiment with different types of searches and different terms.

3.  Look at the article. If there is an abstract, read it, and look at the subject headings or keywords used to index it. Use this information to decide if this is what you need, and determine if you want to construct an advanced search.

4.  Print, download or e-mail the article. If there is no full text, you can print a list of citations from your marked list. This makes it easier to go through steps 5 & 6, and helps you remember where you got your articles when you are writing your paper. 

If your citation to an article is in a journal, go to step 5.  If it is in a book, go to step 6.

5.  Check the Journals at the MKP Library link on our home page to see if we have the journal. Use the search box at the top of the screen to search by various options (title, ISSN, title keyword) from the drop-down box.  If the journal is listed, check the dates for the issue with the article you want, then click on the link. The first time you do this you will have to use the Proxy Server; your UNH ID number is on your UNH photo ID.   Helpful hint: some journals are listed by date/issue, and you can click on the issue you want and then scroll through the articles by page number or title. Or use the "Advanced Search" option to search by author or title of the article -- this is sometimes quicker.  

If the link is labeled UNH Library Holdings, it links you to our Library Catalog, which lists the dates, formats and locations of paper and microform journals we have. Do check the Linked Resources tab for possible online access. Paper journals are located on the library's lower level and are shelved alphabetically by title, as are microforms. See the next section on "Finding Periodicals" to see where you would find journals in the library. 

6.  If the article is in a book, use the Library Catalog link on our home page to see if we have the book you need, where it is, and whether someone else has it out. Remember to look for the title of the book, not the title of the article. 

 

♦Finding Periodicals (Journals, Magazines, Newspapers) by Topic and Location (within the library):

The Journals at the MKP Library link on our home page lists our periodicals in all formats. Use the search box at the top of the screen to search by journal title, title keyword, or ISSN. You can also browse journals by subject, using the options in the drop-down boxes. Once you find a journal you want, click on the link. You will need to sign on through the Proxy screen. Once past the Proxy, you will be able to download or print articles. If the link says UNH Library Holdings, it leads to the Library Catalog, which tells you where to find the journal in the Library (see paragraph below).  Check the Linked Resources label for online access. While most print journals are in the Periodicals Collection, some are listed with call numbers in the circulating or reference stacks.  

Journals and magazines (periodicals) are usually shown in the Library Catalog as being in the Journals Collection, and are shelved downstairs on the Lower Level, alphabetically by title. Ignore initial articles (A, An, or The) at the beginning of titles. 

Please do not re-shelve the periodicals. Leave them on the table when you are finished and our staff will reshelve them. If you don't find the journal, ask for assistance at the Information Desk. Use the title you see in the catalog - sometimes this is not obvious from the journal itself. For example, The Journal of Psychology will be shelved as Journal of Psychology. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is shelved as JAMA, and not as Journal of the American Medical Association.  

Microform (microfilm or microfiche) periodicals are in the microform room on the lower level. Ask at the Circulation Desk for assistance using the microform readers.

Periodicals shown in the catalog as being in the Government Documents Collection are shelved by SuDoc call number, rather than by title. Come to the Information Desk and we can get the document for you. Also check the Linked Resources tab to see if the document is available online; many government publications are available this way. 

♦Print Indexes & Abstracts and Electronic Databases at Our Library:

Print indexes and abstracts are listed in italics, databases in boldface. These are shelved on the reference shelves by call number. The following are some of our indexes:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Vol. 1, 1901-present. 
Ref. AI3 .R4

Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890-1899, With Supplementary Indexing 1900-1922.
Ref. AI3 .R396

Index to Early American Periodical Literature, 1728-1870.
Ref. Z8699 .I55

New York Times Index. 1863-74, 1886-93, 1913-1989.
Ref A121 .N44

The New York Times is also indexed online, with full text, in the databases LexisNexis Academic and ProQuest Newspapers & ProQuest Historical Newspapers. We also have the New York Times on microfilm from 1934 to the present. Current issues are kept at the Circulation Desk. The New York Times Current History (1914-1915, 1915-1929) is in paper downstairs, shelved by title.

Wall Street Journal Index, Eastern Edition. Abstracts. 1958-1989.
Ref HG1 .W26

The Wall Street Journal is also indexed online and with full text and images available in ProQuest's Newspaper & Historical Newspaper Collections, and with abstracts back to May 1, 1973, in LexisNexis Academic. We have the Wall Street Journal itself from 1955-present on microfilm.

Industrial Arts Index. 1913-1957.
Ref Z913 .I7

Title changed to Business Periodicals Index.

Business Periodicals Index. 1958-present.
Ref. Z7164.C81 B983

General Science Index. 1978/79-2003.
Ref. Z7401 .G46

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature.
Ref. AI3 .P7 1938

Covers the years 1802-1900. Volume 1, in two parts, covers 1802-1881; volumes 2-6 cover the years 1882-1900.

Psychological Abstracts.
Ref. BF1 .P65

Online in PsycINFO, with full text to some of the citations available in the Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection and PsycARTICLES from EBSCOhost.

Criminal Justice Abstracts. 1977-present.
Ref. HV6001 .C67

Criminal Justice Periodical Index. 1975-1998.
Ref. Z5118.C9 C74

Indexed online from 1981 onwards in ProQuest's Criminal Justice Periodical Index, with some full text.

Social Sciences and Humanities Index. 1907-1974.
Ref. AI3 .R49 

After 1974 it divides into the following two:

Social Sciences Index. 1974/75-present.
Ref. AI3 .S6

Humanities Index. 1974/75-present.
Ref. AI3 .H8

Applied Science and Technology Index. 1958-current.
Ref. Z7913 .I7


                                                              Databases

Electronic indexes/Databases are available from our home page.

The following is an incomplete list of databases of general interest. For a full list, see our Annotated List of Databases or subject guides.

ABI Inform Global

General business, with wide subject coverage.

Engineering Village 2

Index to engineering literature as well as handbooks online in the EngNetBase option.

Health and Wellness Resource Center

Indexes medical periodicals and provides access to online dictionaries and other reference books.

General OneFile, Expanded Academic ASAP and General Reference Center Gold

General, multipurpose databases covering all disciplines.

K-Essentials and Knovel Library provide access to chemistry and chemical engineering texts.

LexisNexis Academic

Indexes major magazines and newspapers globally, with full text, no images. Modules include general, news, legal, business, and people.

ProQuest Newspaper Collection

Includes major U.S. papers with full text and images.

Literary Reference Center

Covers biographies, plot summaries, reviews, literary criticism, author interviews and more.

ProQuest's Education Journals and Wilson Education Abstracts

Indexes education literature.

PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection

All provide articles of interest to social scientists and others. Wide subject coverage, including criminal justice, business and marketing, organizational behavior and human resources.

Internet Resources

"Open access journals" are scholarly, full text, free journals available via the Internet. Some websites also provide free access to other periodical publications on the Internet, or allow you to search for bibliographic citations (references to articles). The following is a short list of some such sites. Many of these are included in the Journals at the MKP Library link/index on our home page.

American Educational Association's Directory of Open Access Journals in Education

Access to journals that are "scholarly, peer reviewed and accessible without cost."

BioMedCentral

Provides free "open access" to journals online, mostly in the biomedical sciences. Look at the list of journals for more detail.

Directory of Open Access Journals

A list of open access journals organized by subject, hosted by the Lund University Library, Sweden. Funded by the Open Society Institute in Budapest, and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). As of October 5, 2007 there are 906 journals searchable at the article level.

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)

Allows you to search for U.S. Department of Education and other publications.

Google Scholar

A search engine geared to researchers.

Google's U.S. Government Search

Designed to retrieve government websites and publications.

LookSmart's "Find Articles"

This option allows you to search for free online articles by publication name or by subject.

MagPortal

Allows you to search for articles by subject.

PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Includes some full text, but many more citations.

OAIster

A project of the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service, this site provides access to academic online resources.

PressDisplay.com

Newspaper Replicas from Around the World.

Science.gov

Allows you to search by subject or specific database (such as Agricola) or across several government databases for reports and periodical citations. The Office of Scientific & Technical Information allows the same type of access.

Scirus

A science search engine that acts as an index to scientific literature on the Internet, including full text of open access journals, citations to scientific literature and websites.

♦Books Freely Available Online:

Bartleby.com

Provides access to books online, including reference books, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries of quotations. You can search by title or by topic.

Project Gutenberg

Provides access to online texts if their copyright has expired.

This and other guides are available in print near the Information Desk or online from our home page. Look for the Library Guides link.

Any Questions? Come to the Information Desk, call us 203-932-7189 or e-mail us.

rev 10/07

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