From a Citation to a Full-Text Article

Finding that Reading. Any and Every Time You Need It.

Through this tutorial you'll practice the following:

• Reading an academic citation
• Using Library Search to find a reading
• Using the journal search to find a reading

 

Clicking on an underlined word will give you a definition or in-depth explanation.

Use the arrows below to navigate through the tutorial.

 

Let's get started!

What is a Citation?

A citation is a lot like a mailing address. A mailing address describes exactly where you live, and if you want your mail to be delivered, you need to use your whole address in the correct order.

 

The same idea goes for a citation - it describes exactly where to find a reading, and putting all the information in the right order makes it possible for you, your professor, or your group members to find it again.

 

A style like APA or AMA determines the order and formatting of a citation, and they all tend to include similar information like:

• Author(s)
• Title
• Publication year
• Page numbers
• Volume & issue (for journals)
• Publisher 

Reading an Article Citation

The basic format for an APA 7th edition journal article citation looks like this:

Author, A., & Author B. (Year). Title of article. Title of journal. Volume number(issue number), pages. DOI

 

Here's an example:

Dean, R., & Poorvu, N. (2008). Assessment and formulation: a contemporary social work perspective. Families in society, 89(4), 596-604. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3822

 

Reading a Book Chapter Citation

But wait, there's more! Every source you use needs to be cited, and that means you'll also be seeing citations for books, book chapters, websites, videos, tweets and more. 

The basic format for an APA 7th edition book chapter citation:

Author, A., & Author, B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A.A. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Publisher.

 

And here's an example:

Kurtz, L.F. (2004). Support and self-help groups. In C.D. Garvin, L.M. Gutierrez, and M.J. Galinsky (Eds.), Handbook of social work with groups (pp. 139-159). The Guilford Press.

If you can read a book chapter citation, you can read a book citation - it's the same idea and structure!

Reading Other Citations

And here's the format for an APA 7th edition "nonperiodical web document:"

Author, A.A. (Date of publication). Title of document. http://web address

And here's an example of a "non-periodical web document" that you might need to cite:

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the national association of social workers. https://www.socialworkers.org/ About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English

 

More Citation Style Information

For more information on citation styles, look for the Writing and Citing tab in all of our Research Guides, and visit the Writing Center for in-depth assistance.

 

Now let's practice getting from a citation to an article! 

First Option: Library Search

Finding your readings using Library Search tends to be the quickest option, but Find a Journal is always accurate, if a bit lengthier.

We're going to find this article:

Dean, R., & Poorvu, N. (2008). Assessment and formulation: a contemporary social work perspective. Families in society, 89(4), 596-604. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3822

 

Go to the Library's homepage.

 

Step 1: Library Search

Look at the article citation below, then type (or copy & paste) the article title into the Library Search box, and click Search.

Dean, R., & Poorvu, N. (2008). Assessment and formulation: a contemporary social work perspective. Families in society, 89(4), 596-604. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3822

 

If this is opening in a new window, click on this link to stay in the tutorial.

Tip: for long titles you can often just search using the first part or phrase.

Step 2: Search Results

Usually your article will be one of the first search results - use the citation information to confirm that it's the article you're looking for. 

Scroll through your results (it's probably the first result) until you find:

Dean, R., & Poorvu, N. (2008). Assessment and formulation: a contemporary social work perspective. Families in society, 89(4), 596-604. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3822

 

Not seeing it? Try this:

• Switch the keyword option next to the search box to title and click Search again.

Still nothing? Try this:

• Click advanced search to get additional search boxes
• Add the author's last name in a new search box and click Search again.

If you're still not seeing results jump to Find a Journal to see the other search strategy.

 

Tip: If you’re off-campus and see a gray message at the top of the page that says “Welcome, Guest. Sign in to your institution for full access to your library's resources.” use your Simmons username and password to log in.

Step 3: Reading the Article

In the results list, immediately under each result you'll see a button with access options for reading it. The drop-down menu will usually include one or more of the below:

• Online Full Text
• EPUB Full Text
• PDF
• Access Now (PDF)
• Access E-Book
• Request/More Information

Once you find your article, click on the access options button. From the drop-down menu, select 'click here for full text' to see the full thing.

Step 4: More Tools!

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Library Search and other databases do more than just give you the full article.

Exit out of the full article text and return to the tab with your original library search.

To see all the other information and tools, click on the article title:

"Assessment and formulation: a contemporary social work perspective."

Step 4: More Tools!

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Directly underneath the resource title, you'll see access options.

In the center you'll see more about the article under additional information.

Above the resource title, you'll see tools to help you with your research process.

 

Second Option: Find a Journal

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Find a Journal

Some articles are harder to find, and using Library Search may not be the best option. This tutorial will search using the citation information to find the following article by looking up the journal in which it was published:

Kurland, R., & Salmon, R. (2005). Group work vs. casework in a group: principles and implications for teaching and practice. Social Work with Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, 28(3-4), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v28n03_09

Click on the results link above the resource title to return to your original search. In the left menu under "Research Tools," click on Publications.

If this is opening in a new window, click on this link to stay in the tutorial.

 

Second Option: Find a Journal

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Kurland, R., & Salmon, R. (2005). Group work vs. casework in a group: principles and implications for teaching and practice. Social Work with Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, 28(3-4), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v28n03_09

 

Type the journal title of the article, Social Work with Groups, into the search box.

Find the journal title in the list of results, and choose to view the full text available option: Taylor & Francis 1997 - present.

Second Option: Find a Journal

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Kurland, R., & Salmon, R. (2005). Group work vs. casework in a group: principles and implications for teaching and practice. Social Work with Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, 28(3-4), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v28n03_09

 

From the journal page on Taylor & Francis, use the volume, issue, and year information in the citation to locate the journal issue that contains the article. (In this case: Volume 28).

Second Option: Find a Journal

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Kurland, R., & Salmon, R. (2005). Group work vs. casework in a group: principles and implications for teaching and practice. Social Work with Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, 28(3-4), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v28n03_09

Click on the issue, 3-4.

Second Option: Find a Journal

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You can now scroll through the results to your article.

Kurland, R., & Salmon, R. (2005). Group work vs. casework in a group: principles and implications for teaching and practice. Social Work with Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, 28(3-4), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1300/J009v28n03_09

 

Once you locate your article, click on its title.

If you're off-campus, you may be asked to login with your Simmons username and password.   

 

That's it!  

Tip: you can also search the text on a webpage by clicking control+f, and searching by the author's name to move more quickly through the page.

Summary of the Tutorial

This tutorial demonstrated:

• Reading an article citation.
• Reading a book chapter citation.
• Finding an article through Library Search.
• Finding an article by looking up the journal in which it was published.

Have questions? Contact the Library Service Desk using chat, email or phone!

[email protected]
617-521-2780
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