From Citation To Article: Find the Full Text of an Article from an Article Citation
Consult this guide to obtain a journal article from an article citation or reference.
To find journal articles by subject or topic, see How to Find Journal Articles.
Table of Contents
Verify that the citation points to a journal article and not a book chapter
Read the citation carefully to figure out what your item is (remember that the citation could refer to an article, a book, a book chapter, part of a conference proceedings, etc.).
| Coren, S. (1999). Do people look like their dogs? Anthrozoos, 12(2), 111-114. |
This citation has a volume number (12) and issue number (2), so the item is a journal article. The journal title is Anthrozoos. |
| Watts, A.G. & Swanson, L.W. (2002). Anatomy of motivation. In H. Pashler (Ed.), Advances in the study of behaviour (pp. 563-631). New York, NY, US: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
This citation includes an editor (H. Pashler) and a place of publication (New York), so the item is a book chapter. The book title is Advances in the study of behaviour. |
How to access the full text of your article
There are different options for getting from the citation to the full article, depending on where you found the citation.
1. Citation is on paper, or located on a non-SFU web site or database
Find the full text of the article using Citation Finder or Library Search
Try the SFU Library Where can I get this?: Citation Finder or, type the article's title (quotation marks around the title keep these words together in the results), author name and/or journal title in the Library Search search box:
Use this search tool to locate library resources useful for in-depth searching. Find articles, books, DVDs, course reserves, ejournals by title, databases by title, library information & guides, and more.
Your results page will look something like this, often with your article listed as the first "result" in the Journal Articles section:
Please Note: that Library Search searches approximately 65% of SFU Library content.
Find the paper version and/or the online version using the Library catalogue
If your article does not appear in the Library Search results, check to see if SFU library has your journal in the collection by searching the library's catalogue:
If SFU library has the journal, you will see a results page similar to this:
If you are looking for the print version of the article, the record will look like this:
2. Citation occurs within a SFU Library article database
Full text available within the database
Some of the SFU Library databases include the full text of the article right in the database. Look for a link or a button beneath the citation that says "full text", for example: 
Full text available outside of the database: Use the "Where can I get this?" link
If the article referenced is not available in full text within the library database, it may still be available online elsewhere at another web site, or in print. To see a report on where the article is available, click the "Where can I get this?" link alongside the citation.
Here is a sample "Where can I get this?" report. It starts with the citation for the article. Below the citation you will find all the options for locating a particular document online, in print at SFU library, or in print at another library:
3. Request the article from a non-SFU library
If SFU Library does not have the journal or book you want, you may be able to order the item from another library. Fill out the Request Items from Other Libraries: Interlibrary loan request form to request your item.
Ask for help!
If you have difficulties obtaining an article, please ask a librarian for assistance.
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