Library:How to Find Articles/List of Articles
Articles on a List, Bibliography, etc.
A bibliographic citation is a reference that points towards a specific source of information.
A complete citation provides all the pieces of information that you need to track down a source that has been referenced in a book or article you read, or assigned as part of your class readings.
It is important to be able to distinguish between citations to different types of information sources (e.g. books or journal articles), because you need to use different strategies to locate different kinds of materials.
You can identify common types of citations by the information elements that they contain. While some elements are common to most citations (such as the author/creator of the work and the date of publication), other elements provide clues about the kind of information source that is being cited.
Don't rely on italics or bolding to identify an element. Each type of citation can be formatted in different ways, depending on which citation style is being used.
Tip: If your citation has an abbreviated journal title (e.g., Bull at Sci, J. Appl. Econom), cut and paste the title into Google or consult the Science & Engineering Journal Abbreviations list to discover the complete journal title.
Journal Articles
At first glance, journal article citations can look very similar to book chapter citations. In particular, journal article citations also contain two titles: the title of the article and the title of the journal. However, different publication information is given for a journal article.
For example, the table below shows a sample citation in MLA and APA style, and the kind of information it displays:
| Citation Elements | Item Details | Sample Citations |
|---|---|---|
| Author(s) | Haas, Heather A. | MLA Style:
Haas, Heather A. “The Wisdom of Wizards—and Muggles and Squibs: Proverb Use in the World of Harry Potter.” Journal of American Folklore, vol. 124, no. 492, 2011, pp. 29-54. |
| Article Title | The Wisdom of Wizards—and Muggles and Squibs: Proverb Use in the World of Harry Potter | |
| Journal Title | Journal of American Folklore | |
| Volume Number | 124 | APA Style:
Haas, H. A. (2011). The wisdom of wizards—and muggles and squibs: Proverb use in the world of Harry Potter. Journal of American Folklore, 124(492), 29-54. |
| Issue Number | 492 | |
| Year of Publication | 2011 | |
| Page Numbers | 29-54 | |
| Medium of Publication |
Distinguishing Features
- The citation includes two titles: the title of the individual article and the title of the journal in which it is published
- No place of publication or publisher's name is given
- Instead, the citation specifies the exact volume and issue of the journal that is being referenced
Look It Up
To find journal articles by title, you can use Summon. Type the title of the article in the "General" search box on the library homepage. As with the example below, remember to add quotations to search for the title as a phrase.
To find journal articles by author, you can use Summon. Type the name of the author in the "General" search box on the library homepage. As with the example below, remember to add quotations to search for the author as a phrase.
To get the full text of an article. Look for terms like "Link to full text", HTML Full Text, PDF, for example:
IF you don't see a link to PDF or HTML full text, click on the
button to connect to full text.