How To Find Articles: Home

What is Full Text?

• A full-text document is one that can be read online.
• Full-text documents are usually in HTML format or PDF format. 
• Full-text documents may include the illustrations, tables and graphics that accompanied the original article (but some will not).

Find Full-text Articles

1. Journal Finder

• E-Journals A - Z allows you to search for a specific journal or other periodical.
• For help, see How To Find Journals.

2. Databases

• If you are searching for articles by topic/subject, use the databases.
• For help using a particular database, go to Database Tutorials.

3. Other Libraries

The Online Library does not have the full-text of every article in our databases. Most of the databases are a mix of full-text articles and citation/abstract information.

If you cannot find the full-text article in the database or using Article Linker, you have several options:

• You can interlibrary loan articles and book chapters (electronic delivery only.) For more information and to register, go to Interlibrary Loan.
• As a SUNY Empire State College student or faculty member, you can use the libraries of any SUNY, CUNY or New York state community college. You may need to present your Empire State College photo ID to take books out. You may or may not be able to get a guest login to use their databases. For more information, go to SUNY Open Access Borrowing.
• Many scholarly articles can be accessed, sometimes for a fee, using How To Use Google and Google Scholar.
• Most public libraries offer interlibrary loan. If your local public library offers this service, get a borrower's card and you will be able to request books and articles from other libraries. For more information, go to Locate Libraries Near You.
• Commercial-document delivery services allow you to purchase individual articles that are delivered to you electronically. This is a good option for an article you are sure you want, if you can't get it any other way. For more information, go to Document Delivery.
• You may be able to locate an online book, or chapter from an online book, using Google Books.
• Books that aren't available any other way may be obtained cheaply from online vendors who deal in used books. You can use Google Product Search to identify the cheapest source. TIP: Put the book's title in quotation marks.

Printing Documents

• In HTML full text, look for a print link or icon. This is neater and less wasteful of paper than the File > Print option in your web browser.
• PDFs are the best choice for printing documents because they retain the original article layout and formatting that appeared in print.