Skip to Main Content

Finding Full-Text Articles

Guidance on locating and accessing full-text articles from UMSL Libraries.

Interlibrary Loan

Do not pay to access academic articles.

In many cases, the library can get access to an article for you from another library.

Follow these steps to make a request:

  • Visit the library home page, library.umsl.edu.
  • Click the "Interlibrary Loan" tab along the left side of the page.
  • Click the yellow button with the red border that says "Click here to Log-In/Request Materials via ILL"
  • Log in with your UMSL SSO and password.
  • Click the red "Create New Request" button.
  • Fill out as much information about the article as you can.
  • Submit.

You should receive an email to your UMSL address when your article is ready.  The time to fulfil the request will depend on the staffing levels at the lending library, especially during COVID, so please be patient.

Did You Know Instagram Post by Jaleh Fazelian

Text: Finding Full Text Articles, Discover@UMSL, Library Databases, Google Scholar. Graphic of two articles.

Articles in Discover@UMSL

Discover@UMSL is the library's main search tool which offers a variety of results, including books and book chapters, academic journal articles, newspaper articles, and more.

Finding ArticlesGuide to Discover@UMSL

  • Type your terms into the search bar and click "Search." You may need to enter your UMSL login information.
  • Select the Full Text box (left side of the screen).
  • Look for the Limit by Source Type heading (left side of the screen). Select the Academic Journals box for journal articles, News for news articles, or Magazines or magazine articles. You can select more than one.

Accessing Articles

Use one of the following access options in Discover@UMSL:

  • Click the blue PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text link under the search result.
  • Click the article title to access the full record. Click the PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text links on the left side of the page.
  • Click the Full Text Finder link under the search result. On the second screen, select one of the "Check _____" links to redirect to a database which can provide access to the article.

Articles in Databases

Accessing the full text of an article you find in a database will depend on which database you use.  Look for links such as:

  • PDF Full Text
  • HTML Full Text
  • Download
  • Read Online
  • View Online

...or something similar.

Not all databases will provide the full text of articles.  You may find the full text in a different database by following the Article Linker icon.

Find Full-Text

 

 

Following Article Linker will take you to the full text or the blue Request from Interlibrary Loan button.

I'm having trouble accessing the article.

There are several reasons why you may not be able to access the article or database:

  • Your UMSL login information is not working.
    • Step 1: Try to access the same resource in a different browser.
    • Step 2: Clear your browser cache, then try to access the same resource again.
    • Step 3: Confirm that you are using your correct SSO and password.
  • There is no PDF Full Text / HTML Full Text / etc. link.
    • We may not have access to the full text of this article. Some of our databases are "citation only," meaning we have access to the article title, author(s), journal information, etc., but not the article itself.
    • Check with Discover@UMSL or by contacting the library to see if the article is available in a different database or in print. See below for a visual aid on the steps to do this. You can check whether we have access to a journal online (and the date range) using the Journals & Ebooks by Title search.
    • If not, place an interlibrary loan request.

When in doubt, contact the library!

Articles in Google Scholar

Some articles and other resources you can find with Google Scholar are available on the web for free. Look to the right side of the search result for a link to access the article.

Others are hidden behind a paywall. Do not pay to access articles you find on Google Scholar. They may be available at UMSL, or you can request them at no cost through interlibrary loan.

Connecting Google Scholar to UMSL Libraries

You can make your research process smoother by configuring Google Scholar to provide a link that allows you to access articles directly through your home library. Your browser may automatically recognize you as an UMSL affiliate, but if not, you can set up the connection manually:

  1. Visit the main Google Scholar webpage
  2. Click on the three horizontal lines in the upper left corner
  3. Select Settings
  4. Select Library Links
  5. Type "University of Missouri-St. Louis" into the search bar and click the magnifying glass.
  6. Select University of Missouri - St. Louis - Full-Text @ UMSL
  7. Click Save

Now, you should see the Full-Text @ UMSL link to the right side of any Google Scholar search results that you can access via UMSL Libraries. You may still need to provide your UMSL SSO and password.