Library Guides: Materials Science and Engineering: Find the Full Text of Articles

Find the Full Text of Articles

Use the Find It Button to Find Full Text

Article indexes and databases don't always provide easy access to the full-text of articles you need. if Albertsons Library has purchased content, you may be able to find it relatively easily.

Watch for buttons or links that say Full Text, PDF, or HTML. And most importantly, watch for the Find It button within your search results. The Find It button will link you to the full text of the article in other indexes or databases, within online journal subscriptions, or will tell you if the Library has the print journal (i.e. in paper).

Here's an example of the Find It button in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications database

ACS record with BSU Find It Button circled

Here's an example of the Find It button in the Compendex engineering database

Compendex article record with the BSU Find It button circled

CAUTION: In some databases, the Full Text button (like the one shown above in Compendex) may link to the publisher's version of a full text article, which may require you to pay for access. The Library's Find It button will always send you to resources that are free to you or will give you an option to borrow them from another library without charge.

When you click the Find It button, you will see options for how you might get access to the full article

"View Full Text" button, will take you a page where you can find the complete article

There may be more than one source to get the full article. Check the "Coverage" note to see what journal publication years are covered by each source

Find It full text options showing View Full Text link and journal years covered by each source

You may also see a DOI link, which means "digital object identifier", a persistent identifier used to uniquely identify an object. This link may or may not take you to the full article.

Find it page showing a full text link and a DOI link

"Available from Albertsons Library..." link means the Library has a paper copy of the journal. The link will take you to the Library's catalog record where you can find the journal call number, the address of the item in Albertsons Library.

Stop at the ASK Desk on the Library's first floor for help figuring out where to find the call number in the Library

Find it results for print copies

"Request Through InterLibrary Loan" button means the Library doesn't have the article electronically or in paper, but you can borrow a copy from another library.

Find it page without full text referring users to request through Interlibrary loan

When you click the "Request through Interlibrary Loan" button, you will go to an "Article Request" form that, when submitted, will ask the Library to retrieve the article for you from another library.

You may be prompted to log in using your Boise State email and password
You'll notice that the computer has already started to fill in the Article Request form for you. Before you hit the "Submit Request" button, verify that the information for the citation is correct! It doesn't always come out right

NOTE: For more information on Interlibrary Loan (ILL), go to the "Get Materials the Library Doesn't Have" section of this guide.

Finding Specific Articles

Did you know that Google Scholar is a great place to look for specific articles?

Type in the article title within quotation marks to make the search more precise. For example:

Google Scholar showing article title in quotes search

If you have your Google Scholar preferences set to show you Boise State University's library materials, you see a link to boisestate.edu to find the full text.

I have a Citation. How do I Find the Journal?

So you found a great citation, but you weren't in an article database or a place where there was an HTML, PDF, Full Text, or Find it Button. Try the Library's Journals Search.

From the Library's Main page, click on the Journals Box

Library's main page with Journals box circled

You can search by Journal Title or International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) Number or Browse by Journal Title.

Journal Search page showing journal title and ISSN search options

If you receive a list of potential journals, click on the Journal Title you need.

If you find the journal, you will see options for how you might get the full article.

"Full text availability for this item" means the journal is available electronically

The journal title link will take you to the Journal where you can find your citation. The link right below it tells you if the journal is part of a larger collection. The "Coverage" information tells you what years of the publication are available.

Results of Journal Search showing link to electronic journal and the collection where it's located

What if the journal volume and issue you need isn't there? Use the Request though Interlibrary Loan button to borrow a copy from anther library. It's free!

"Available from Albertsons Library Print Serials Collection" link means the Library has a paper copy of the journal.

The link will take you to the Library's catalog record where you can find the journal call number, the address of the item in Albertsons Library. The "Coverage" information tells you what publication years of the journal are in the Library.

Stop at the ASK Desk on the Library's first floor for help figuring out where to find the call number in the Library

Journal Search record for a paper journal noting coverage and the Interlibrary Loan button

If the library doesn't have the journal year you need, use the Request though Interlibrary Loan button to borrow a copy from anther library. It's free!

Who Cited this Article?

Many databases will show you who cited a particular article. Depending on the database you search, these citations might be from articles, technical reports, dissertations, or other types of documents. Here are some options in broad general databases that might help.

Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Search scholarly journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities and navigate the full citation network. Search across all author and author affiliations, track citation activity with Citation Alerts, and see citation activity and trends with Citation Report.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Search scholarly literature across a wide variety of disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites. Visit the Electronic Resources LibGuide-Google Scholar page to learn more about adding Find it at Boise State! library links to your Google Scholar search.

Why are the Number of Citations Different?

You may find that the numbers of articles that cited an original article are different in each database you search. Databases that have a "cited by" feature are retrieving the information from the content within their own database or a range of databases by that vendor, so their sources of information will differ.

Google Scholar will usually have more articles listed under their "cited by" because the database searches across the Internet

Setting Up BSU Full Text Access in Google Scholar

Google Scholar can be set up to provide access to some of Boise State's full text articles.

Step 1: Go to scholar.google.com and select the Menu in the top left corner of the screen.

Step 2: Click the "Settings" link at the bottom of the menu.

Step 3: Click the "Library links" link in the left-side menu.

Step 4: Use the search box to find Boise State, check the appropriate boxes, and click the "Save" button.

Step 5: Now every time you search Google Scholar, the "Find it at Boise State" link will appear.

Click on the Find it at Boise State instead of the publisher's link. Albertsons Library subscribes to (purchases) content and provides you access for free! Why pay to purchase from a publisher when Albertsons Library gets you access for free?