If you find a citation or reference to a journal article with no obvious link straight to full text there are a few things you can try. Check below for tips.
Sometimes databases have information about an article but do not have access to the full text. If you are using a database and there is no PDF link to the article check if there is a full text link, examples include 'Find it', 'SFX', 'Check SFX for full text' and 'Get full text'.
These options will check the library's collections and link you directly to the article where possible. Where this is not possible you may be taken to a Discover record instead. For more information on linking to full text from Discover see the next tab.
You can search for a journal article by title in Discover. If the library has online access to the full text, you will see one or more of the following options underneath the article reference in the results list:
If there is more than one link to the full text from the library record it just means that we have more than one way to access the full text.
Occasionally the links from Discover only take you to the journal's table of contents or a database home page. If this happens you will have to browse the table of contents to locate the issue and article that you need; or, search the database by article title.
You can try using Google Scholar to find an open-access journal article. Search by article title. Google Scholar may locate more than one version of an article including some that are different to the final published version.
You can request a journal article or a book not available in our Library stock via our Inter-library loan (ILL) service. View our Inter-library loan webpages using the link below for more details on how to submit a request and contact details for the ILL team.
Materials are supplied electronically where possible but some processing time is required for ILL requests so we recommend factoring this into your time management for your assignment/dissertation or honours project.
Help and support on the ILL process including frequently asked questions are also available on our ILL webpages.
If you are completing a dissertation, honours project or systematic review and none of the previous options has worked, you could contact the author directly to ask whether they can supply a copy of their article and permission to use it in your work. You will need to search for up-to-date contact details for the author and be aware there is no guarantee when or if they will respond.