This web page is intended to help you find journal articles on the subject you are researching. Start early so you can get the information and assistance you need. For more help in person or online, Ask Us.

Journal articles provide sharply focused information on specific discoveries, research and recent events. They do not usually provide background or basic information. Often it is a good idea to use books and encyclopedias to find this background and basic information before you search for articles.

Finding journal articles is a process:

1. Find citations to relevant journal articles
   1. Using bibliographies
   2. Using article databases
      1. Selecting a database
      2. Searching a database
2. Obtain the articles by using the citations
3. Evaluate the articles

1. Find citations to relevant journal articles

You can find citations to relevant journal articles by mining the bibliographies of sources you already have or by searching for articles on your topic in article databases.

a. Using bibliographies

If you already have material on your topic - for example course reserves, books, encyclopedias or journal articles - check their bibliographies for citations to other sources that are of interest to you.

Bibliographies are usually found at the end of the book, chapter or article, and can also be called references, works cited or further reading. They list the sources the author consulted and provide their citations.

Scan the bibliography and record the citations of articles of interest to you.

b. Using article databases

Another way to find journal articles is to use databases (periodical indexes). If citations are like names and addresses, then article databases are like the yellow pages: they let you look up citations by subject without you having to know a specific title, or journal, or author.

A periodical database is a storage of thousands or millions of citations to articles published in a selected group of journals. Databases allow you to find citations to articles on one topic in many journals without having to look through each issue of each journal.

i. Selecting a database. SFU Library subscribes to hundreds of electronic databases and print indexes in many subject areas. Virtually no subject is limited to one database. Each database will cover a different set of journals and, although some overlap occurs, the same search in different databases will produce different results. A good search strategy includes using more than one database.

You can find article databases in a number of ways:

• Ask a librarian at the Ask Us Desk and they will recommend electronic databases or print indexes based on your topic
• Go to the SFU Library databases page. If you know the name of the database you want to search, browse by title.
• If not, select a subject area to see a list of relevant databases

ii. Searching a database.

To improve your searching, use the tips below on defining the topic and identifying concepts, combining terms, truncation, and what to do if you have too few or too many results.

Defining the topic and identifying concepts

Before you start searching, you need to know what you are looking for. One way to define your topic is to write it out as a question you hope to answer in the paper or assignment. For example:

• What effect does water temperature have on sea urchins?
• Are left-handed people more intelligent?
• Are drug-users more likely than non-users to commit robbery?

Next, you need to identify the important concepts included in your question. For example:

• What effect does water temperature have on sea urchins?
• Are left-handed people more intelligent?
• Are drug-users more likely than non-users to commit robbery?

These important concepts provide the terms you will use in your search. Search for the specific words you use in your question plus synonyms, variant spellings and related words.

Combining terms

The connectors and and or have special meanings in database searching. They allow you to combine terms in two different ways.

• And
  • Retrieves records which contain ALL the search terms
  • Use this to find two or more concepts in the same source
  • E.g. water temperature and sea urchins
• Or
  • Retrieves records which contain ANY of the search terms
  • Use this to find synonyms, variant spellings or related terms
  • E.g. robbery or theft or burglary

Truncation or wildcard symbols

Truncation symbols allow you to search for all variations of a word at once, e.g. singular and plural, by searching for all the words beginning with the letters before the symbol.

• * is the most common truncation symbol
• $, ?, ! are other common truncation symbols
• E.g. robb* will retrieve robber, robbers, robbery, robberies, robbing, etc.

Too few sources found?

If you are not finding enough information, broaden your search to find more sources by using these techniques:

• Truncate your search term to find all variations of a term, e.g. instead of crime search for crim* (retrieves crime, crimes, criminal, criminals, etc.)
• Search for synonyms and variant spellings of your topic, e.g. work or labor or labour
• Search for broader or more general terms, e.g. instead of British Columbia search for Canada, or the even broader North America

Too many sources found?

If you are finding too much information, limit your search to find fewer sources by including another concept in your search. Often the second concept is what you want to know about the first concept, e.g. reading and instructional methods.

If you still have too many results then include a third or even fourth concept in your search, e.g. reading and instructional methods and adult education.

2. Obtain the articles by using the citations

To obtain the full text of an article, see Find the Full Text of an Article from an Article Citation.

3. Evaluate the articles

Some sources of information are more reliable than others. For example, only scholarly or academic articles are acceptable to support academic writing, as opposed to popular magazine articles or personal web pages. Some instructors specify the types of sources you can use, and they all expect you to evaluate the articles you have found to determine their relevance and authority. See the library guide What is a Scholarly Journal? for definitions and descriptions of different types of publications and articles, and for help evaluating the sources you find.