Alliant International University Libraries

Frequently Asked Questions: Journals

Lib.Home > Help > FAQs > Journals

Choose from the following questions:

How do I find a journal article? (Overview)

Go to the library catalog.
Choose Print Subscriptions if you are looking for print journals. -- (See How do I find a print article?)
Choose an online database if you want a large number of article references, both descriptions of articles and fulltext. Then check to see if the library has the articles either in print or online. -- (See How do I find an online journal article?)
Choose a fulltext database to limit your search to retrieving full text articles online. -- (See How do I find an online journal article?)

How do I find a print article?

Go to the library catalog and click on Print Subscriptions to find print journals.
Type in the journal title you wish to find. If you want to find print journals on a certain topic, try a subject search and type in "yoursubject periodicals." Or do a Word search and limit material type to “serials”.
Check to make sure your library has that journal title in the date range you need. If there is a "latest received" link, click that to find information on specific issues. If your library does not have the journal, request a particular journal article from Interlibrary Loan. It will cost $2.00 per filled request.

How do I find an online journal article?

Go to the library catalog.
Choose an online database if you are searching for journal articles on a particular topic.

Under Online Databases, choose either the On campus or the Off campus access. If it won't let you in, make sure you are using the right link.
Choose a database that covers your topic and has the type of record you want.
Once you have found a citation (description of an article), see if we have the journal in fulltext or print.

Choose fulltext online to search for full text availability once you have a citation or abstract.

If you know the exact title, go to the box on the upper right-hand corner that says "Find." Type in your title.
If you want to browse for the journal title, use the A, B, AA, and AB links on the left-hand side.
If you want to search by subject, click on the Subject tab, and pick a subject from the blue, non-underlined links.
If it won't let you in and you are off campus, make sure you are using the off-campus link on the upper left-hand side of the page.

I can't find the journal in print or online.

Check your search:
- Check your spelling.
- Did you type it exactly? If it's "Journal of," did you type "Journal in" by mistake?
- If you are using the fulltext link or the journal titles (Print Subscriptions) link, make sure you are looking for the title of the whole journal and not the title of the particular article.
Use other services:
- Request through Interlibrary Loan.
- It will cost $2.00 for each article.
- Journal request is ONLY for articles not available at your home library or on one of the full-text databases.

Which databases have a high percentage of citations?

Which databases have a high percentage of full-text articles?