Before and during a research project, you will need to find resources. Your resources are materials like books and articles that help you understand and make an argument about your research topic. If you are starting from scratch and having trouble choosing a research topic, visit our How to Start a Research Project guide.
You can find quality resources online in two different ways:
These two methods are great to use for the same research project. You might find resources through one website that you wouldn't have found through the other.
You can use Google Scholar to find versions of articles that you can access for free. Google Scholar can tell you in the search results if you have access to an article through USA Libraries or if a free version of the article has been uploaded elsewhere to the internet.
Whenever you use Google Scholar, make sure to be logged into your JagMail account on that browser. Google Scholar will then understand that you have access to USA Libraries.
In Google Scholar, you can search by author, article title, or subject.
1. Search Google Scholar. Find an article in which you are interested.
2. Select the "Full-Text@USA" option below the article you want to read. You might need to click on the arrows to show this option. You may also see a PDF option to the side of the article's search result.
3. If you do not have the "Full-Text@USA" option, please make sure you are signed into your JagMail email on your browser. If you are signed into your JagMail, and you do not have a PDF option or a "Full-Text@USA" option, then you do not have access to that article through Google Scholar. You can still try to request access to the article through Interlibrary Loan.
Some of these databases include material other than journal articles, so to see only the scholarly journal articles, look for the option to limit your results to peer-reviewed journals.