1. 3/21/12 How to: Track Down Journal Articles Cited in News Stories (When They Don t Link Directly) | Guest Blo…
Permanent Address: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/03/19/how-to-track-down-journal-articles-cited-in-news-stories-when-the -dont-link-direc
How to: Track Down Journal Articles Cited in News Stories (When They Don t Link Directly)
By Bonnie Swoger March 19, 2012
I ll admit it: I don t read a lot of scholarly, scientific journal articles. I keep up with ADVERTISEMENT
interesting science news via blogs, news articles and Twitter headlines. News stories can
also be a great way for students to select scientific research topics. Sometimes the news is
so interesting that I want to know more. My first stop is sometimes the original journal
article that the blog post or news story was based on – the original article can provide
additional information and additional related sources. But first you need to find it.
Many blog posts will link directly to a version of the original article, but many news sources
often have a policy of not linking to the original source. Even when a blog links directly to
the original article, you may not be able to read it without paying. But there are steps you
can take to find the original article, and to find a version of it you can read.
If a direct link isn t provided, the first step is to identify the journal the article was published in, and the publication date. News article
typically report this information a few paragraphs into the article. For example, a recent news article from The Ne York Times
identified the original source in this way:
Sifrhippus shrank from about 12 pounds average weight to about eight and a half pounds as the climate warmed over thousands of
years, a team of researchers reported in the journal Science on Thursday.
You need to find the issue of the journal Science published in the same week as the news story in The Ne York Times.
A quick Google search can usually locate the journal s website (for searching really short journal titles it s helpful to add the word
“journal”). There, you can identify the exact article that the news
story is about by finding the right issue.
News stories sometimes include the authors of the original source, but almost never include original article titles, making things a bit
trickier. The original article title might actually be a difficult to recognize: scientific articles are not known for having clear, easily
readable titles. So the goal, when scanning the list of article titles, is to pick out a few major concepts to get you to the item you want. I
the case of the article above, the authors are discussing climate
change and an ancient horse. The article title turns out to be
“Evolution of the Earliest Horses Driven by Climate Change in the
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.”
Sifrhippus sandrae, right. Image: Danielle Byerley, Florida Museum of Natural
History.
From there you can try to read the actual article. If the journal is
open access or if you re on-campus at an institution that already
subscribes to the journal via its website, you ll be able to read it. However, if the website asks for money to read the article (often $30
$40 per article), you have several other possibilities.
…scientificamerican.com/…/how-to-track-down-journal-articles-cited-in-news-stories-when-they-don… 1/2

2. 3/21/12 How to: Track Down Journal Articles Cited in News Stories (When They Don t Link Directly) | Guest Blo…
First, if you are affiliated with a college or university, the library might already have a subscription to that journal. Go to your library s
website and find the place to search by journal title. Sometimes the library might subscribe via the journal s website or via another
source.
Second, even though the journal s website might be asking for money, there may be a copy of the article available for free online as the
result of the author posting a copy to his/her website. Many publishers grant authors the right to do this, including Science. If it exists
quick web search for the article title should discover the item. In this case, the article got a lot of news coverage, so a search for the
article title pulls up a lot of news sites. But about halfway down the first page of results is a link from the University of Nebraska.
Success! A PDF of a post print of this article is available from the University of Nebraska Lincoln Digital Commons. Look for .edu
(colleges and universities) and .gov (PubMed and other government sites) in the search results to find free access sites – those might
your best bets.
If that doesn t work, you may still be able to access the journals your local college or university library subscribes to by visiting the
library in person and requesting a guest borrower card.
Finally, although it might be a bit of delayed gratification, many folks have access to some kind of interlibrary loan services via their lo
library or the library at the college they are affiliated with. Public libraries may charge a fee for this service, but the fee will probably b
lower than the fee charged by the journal website. College and university libraries rarely charge their students and staff a fee for
interlibrary loan, and can often get the article delivered to your email inbox within hours.
Of course, once you get your hands on the article, you ll have lots of avenues to explore. Close reading of the journal article may bring
interesting new concepts, and the list of references at the end can be an excellent source of additional information – it just depends on
exactly how interested you are in the topic!
Abo he A hor: Bonnie J. M. Swoger is a Science and Technolog Librarian at a sm all public undergraduate institution in upstate New York, SUNY
Geneseo. She teaches students about the science literature, helps facult and students with librar research questions and leads librar assessm ent effort
She has a BS in Geolog from St. Lawrence Univ ersit , an MS in Geolog from Kent State Univ ersit and an MLS from the Univ ersit at Buffalo. She wou
lov e to hav e som e free tim e in which to indulge in hobbies. She blogs at the Undergraduate Science Librarian and can be found on twitter @bonnieswoger. Follow o
Twitter @bonnieswoger.
Mor e
The ie e p e ed a e ho e of he a ho and a e no nece a il ho e of Scientific Am erican.
Scientific American is a trademark of Scientific American, Inc., Advertise About Scientific American Subscribe
used with permission
Special Ad Sections Press Room Renew Your Subscription
2012 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc.
Science Jobs Site Map Buy Back Issues
All Rights Reserved.
Partner Network Terms of Use Products & Services
International Editions Privacy Policy Subscriber Customer Service
Contact Us
…scientificamerican.com/…/how-to-track-down-journal-articles-cited-in-news-stories-when-they-don… 2/2