How to Find Scholarly Articles Online
Try Google Scholar., Visit the DOAJ., Use discipline-specific search engines., Check out the websites of individual academics., Search government pages., Find articles from international or non-governmental organizations.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Try Google Scholar.
You can access Google Scholar through http://scholar.google.com.
In countries other than the United States, search for "Google Scholar" to get your local page.
Through this search page, you can look through numerous journals, theses, abstracts, and articles covering a wide range of disciplines.
Use advanced search options to get the best results.
You likely won't have the same success if you use key words or plain language searches like you would on any other internet search engine.
Your results will be a list of citations in order of relevance.
Be sure to check the dates, since3 they won't be ordered chronologically.
Click a result to get publication information.
If it's available, you can view the full text free of charge. -
Step 2: Visit the DOAJ.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provides a number of scholarly journal articles that you can access free of charge.
The DOAJ includes scientific and academic journals covering a variety of fields, and written in many languages.All of the articles on the DOAJ are completely open access, meaning you can read or print the full text of the articles free of charge. , There are numerous scholarly search engines that are focused on a particular discipline, such as science or history.
The results you find may allow you to read the full text of articles for free, or read an abstract and pay to download the full text.For example, if you're doing a science research project, you might look for articles on SciSeek or SciCentral.
You can search for these websites online, or ask a college professor or research librarian for some recommendations. , If you know the name of a prominent professor in the discipline you're researching, you may be able to find copies of their work on their own website or university profile.Most professors have a list of all of their publications.
Depending on the policy of the publisher, they also may have PDF or online copies of the article available on their own website for you to read or download. , Pages operated by national governments, as well as legislative or parliamentary websites, are great sources of primary documents, such as laws and policy papers.Many governmental departments also publish scholarly, peer-reviewed articles.
For example, the National Institutes of Health in the United States hosts PubMed, which provides abstracts and full text of scholarly articles, many of them free of charge.
Governmental commissions and committees also may have reliable documents used in drafting and amending legislation, such as position papers and statistical analysis.
In addition to using these as sources themselves, you can dig through the citations in those documents to find scholarly articles that may be relevant to your project. , Many international or non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, produce scholarly research as well.
These reports often are available for free, or at a relatively limited cost.Before you use a paper written for a non-governmental or nonprofit organization, make sure you understand the mission, purpose, and agenda of the organization itself.
While many of these papers will be well-referenced and reliable, some may be slanted towards a particular viewpoint or position. -
Step 3: Use discipline-specific search engines.
-
Step 4: Check out the websites of individual academics.
-
Step 5: Search government pages.
-
Step 6: Find articles from international or non-governmental organizations.
Detailed Guide
You can access Google Scholar through http://scholar.google.com.
In countries other than the United States, search for "Google Scholar" to get your local page.
Through this search page, you can look through numerous journals, theses, abstracts, and articles covering a wide range of disciplines.
Use advanced search options to get the best results.
You likely won't have the same success if you use key words or plain language searches like you would on any other internet search engine.
Your results will be a list of citations in order of relevance.
Be sure to check the dates, since3 they won't be ordered chronologically.
Click a result to get publication information.
If it's available, you can view the full text free of charge.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provides a number of scholarly journal articles that you can access free of charge.
The DOAJ includes scientific and academic journals covering a variety of fields, and written in many languages.All of the articles on the DOAJ are completely open access, meaning you can read or print the full text of the articles free of charge. , There are numerous scholarly search engines that are focused on a particular discipline, such as science or history.
The results you find may allow you to read the full text of articles for free, or read an abstract and pay to download the full text.For example, if you're doing a science research project, you might look for articles on SciSeek or SciCentral.
You can search for these websites online, or ask a college professor or research librarian for some recommendations. , If you know the name of a prominent professor in the discipline you're researching, you may be able to find copies of their work on their own website or university profile.Most professors have a list of all of their publications.
Depending on the policy of the publisher, they also may have PDF or online copies of the article available on their own website for you to read or download. , Pages operated by national governments, as well as legislative or parliamentary websites, are great sources of primary documents, such as laws and policy papers.Many governmental departments also publish scholarly, peer-reviewed articles.
For example, the National Institutes of Health in the United States hosts PubMed, which provides abstracts and full text of scholarly articles, many of them free of charge.
Governmental commissions and committees also may have reliable documents used in drafting and amending legislation, such as position papers and statistical analysis.
In addition to using these as sources themselves, you can dig through the citations in those documents to find scholarly articles that may be relevant to your project. , Many international or non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, produce scholarly research as well.
These reports often are available for free, or at a relatively limited cost.Before you use a paper written for a non-governmental or nonprofit organization, make sure you understand the mission, purpose, and agenda of the organization itself.
While many of these papers will be well-referenced and reliable, some may be slanted towards a particular viewpoint or position.
About the Author
Douglas Castillo
Brings years of experience writing about lifestyle and related subjects.
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