Locating the full text of a journal article when you have the citation can be confusing. The most efficient route to the full-text of a journal article often depends upon the starting point. Two common starting points are described below with explanations on how to get from those points to the desired article.
Starting Point #1: from the PubMed Abstract, Abstract Plus, or Citation display screens
Click the Links@Pitt-UPMC button near the article citation. You may also see full-text links from journal publishers. But these links may or may not lead to full-text and frequently request payment for access.
A new Web page will open that displays the article citation. Directly below the citation information you will see one of two options. One option allows you to access the full-text article by clicking on the name of the journal publisher.
Alternatively, you may be given a link to PITTCat for the Health Sciences, the online catalog for HSLS and other University of Pittsburgh libraries.
Clicking the PITTCat link launches a journal title search in PITTCat. Within the PITTCat search results, click on the full title link for the journal to access the electronic version or to find information about the location of the print version. If Pitt libraries do not subscribe to the journal, you will receive the message “PITTCat found no records that matched your search.”
Starting Point #2: List of citations but not in a database such as PubMed
Go directly to PITTCat for the Health Sciences. You have two options for searching PITTCat. One option is to go to the HSLS home page and enter the journal title in the Pitt Resources Quick Search box.
This runs a keyword search in PITTCat. Electronic resources available from HSLS will be listed in a highlighted box at the top of your search results, and will include links to the fulltext. Other search results (for University Library System resources or HSLS print resources) will appear further down in your search results and contain links to the PITTCat record.
Alternatively, you can search for the journal title using PITTCat’s traditional search interface. On the HSLS home page, click on the Search PITTCat directly link.
In the traditional PITTCat search interface:
- In the box Search Term(s), enter the journal title.
- In the box Search Type, select Journal Title Begins with.
- Click on the Search button.
Within the PITTCat search results, click on the full title link for the journal to access the electronic version or to find information about the location of the print version. If Pitt libraries do not subscribe to the journal, you will receive the message “PITTCat found no records that matched your search.”
If your search of PITTCat indicates that a journal is not available from any Pitt library, you can use the HSLS Document Delivery service to request a copy of the desired article.
~ Mary Lou Klem