Finding Journal Articles using the website of Forsyth Library, Fort Hays State University

1. Finding Journal Articles
Using Forsyth Library Databases

3. www.fhsu.edu/library

4. Use the links in the center
column to find or borrow
resources, get help, and
find out more about
Forsyth Library.

5. You can use the search box to search for articles and more,
across many of the library’s databases and other collections

6. For example, searching “Everything” for rural single parents yields articles from newspapers as well as
peer-reviewed journals, and also books, videos, and other types of sources.
You can limit your results using the links on the left or across the top of the results.

7. You can also limit your results by selecting Articles in the drop down menu

8. To find peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles that are available online,
click Full-Text Online and Peer-Reviewed Journals:

9. To find the article link, click “View It”. Then click on the name of the database to bring up the article.
There will usually be an abstract, with
links to the complete article in PDF or
HTML format.

10. You can also find articles by searching a database directly.
Click on Articles & Databases on the library’s homepage to see an alphabetical list of databases. Click the
database title to search it. You may be prompted to sign in with your TigerTracks.
A general database like
Academic Search Premier
is a good place to start for
many topics.

11. To find the best database for your topic, consult our Research Guides. If you’re unsure which one to
choose, think about what class the assignment is for, or what the broad topic is. For example, our
topic of rural single parents could fall under Sociology.

12. The tabs along the left
are pages that tell you
how to find different
resource types on this
topic, such as articles,
books, & websites.
You can also find out
how to cite your sources,
borrow items from other
libraries through
Interlibrary Loan, and
more.
Sometimes there are
pages made for specific
courses.
The contact information for
the librarian who created the
guide is available—feel free
to contact him or her for
help 

13. Select the Finding Articles and
Databases page of the guide to see a
list of links to the best databases for
this topic.

14. Databases have different search
interfaces, but most will have these
features:
Advanced search, which allows you to
enter several terms connected by AND,
OR, or NOT
Ability to limit to
• “full-text”, i.e., articles to which you
have complete access
• Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed articles
• By Date

15. If the complete article is available, there will be a link to it under the citation. Choose PDF format when
possible because it will contain page numbers you need for your reference list, as well as graphs or other
illustrations that may not be present in the HTML version.

16. If the article is not available in the database you are searching, it may be available in another database.
Click “Find it at Forsyth” to find out:
If it is found, there will be a “View It”
tab containing the link to the article.

17. Sometimes this link erroneously leads to a “not found” page.
If this happens, try searching for the title of the article on that page:

18. If the article is not found using Find it at Forsyth, we can often get it for you from another library. You can
make this request online using the Interlibrary Loan link on the library’s homepage. Articles can usually be
obtained in electronic format and posted to your Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) account online.
Questions about Interlibrary Loan? Call 785-628-5837 or email iloan@fhsu.edu

19. If you aren’t having any luck finding articles on your topic, there are several ways to get help.
You can use our online
chat service, or check out
our User Q & A

20. Or Ask a Librarian! Contact information for Librarians is available on the Ask a Librarian Research Guide:
http://fhsuguides.fhsu.edu/ask-a-librarian
Ask Us!
We’ll be
happy
to help
you 