I'm looking for information on my topic. How do I find...

Why should I use articles?

Because articles tend to focus on a single topic, they are a great place to find highly specific information.

Articles are often the first place where new research is discussed, and in some disciplines, may be the primary means of conveying information.

Articles cover many types of publications: journals, magazines, newspapers, chapters in books, conference proceedings, technical reports, and trade journals.
 

How do I find articles?

Finding articles on your topic is a 3 step process:

1. Identify a database that searches many journals in your broad subject area

   Search for Articles by Topic links you to some good starting databases, such as ProQuest or InfoTrac, and suggests more in-depth databases for subjects (Art, Biology, etc.)

2. Search the selected article database using words you might expect to find in the title or subject of the article.

   How do I improve my search? has suggestions for combining words and phrases effectively. Note: you may need different strategies than you'd use for an Internet search.

3. Locate the article.

   Databases with the note, Full Text Resource!, may immediately provide the complete article.

   If the database only provides citations (references) or abstracts, look for , or for links such as "Check library holdings" or "Find a copy." FindIt@VU sometimes links you directly to the complete article, and always provides an easy way to search the library catalog, to see if we have the journal either online in another service, or in paper.

   If there are no links and all you have is the citation to an article, search for the journal title (not the article title) in Acorn, the library catalog. Search for Articles by Topic has an example and form for searching.
    

Related Topics: Choosing the Best Database, Reading Citations

Prepared for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to MIT Libraries for granting permission to modify and use their "Information Navigator" tutorial.