Getting help finding journal articles is easy!
To find out the various ways to get research assistance, click here. There is a video outlining the process at the end of this FAQ.
To search for journal articles, you can use the library's "General Search" or you can select a subject specific database. The examples below relate to the topic of "Canada's governmental policies relating to climate change".
GENERAL SEARCH:
In the "General Search", you can enter in your search terms using Boolean operators in between each of the terms.
The initial set of results will contain a mixture of books and journal articles. To narrow the results to peer-reviewed journal articles only, you will want to use the Peer Reviewed link on the left hand side of the screen.
INDEXES and DATABASES
A index/database serves as a table of contents to hundreds and even thousands of journals. You have to search the databases in order to find out what's in the journal.
Once you are in a database enter in your search terms. Not sure which terms to use? Try coming up with keywords that relate to your topic.
Example Topic: Canada's governmental policies relating to climate change
Search the databases using keywords. In this example I am using the database Academic Search Complete. I am searching using the keywords Climate Change AND Canada AND Policy
The results page will show the words the database prefers. Look on the left hand side under the heading Subject Thesaurus. Use these words and search them using the Boolean Operator OR.
Use these terms in conjunction with the terms you have already searched by creating a new search string. This will help to refine the results to make them more relevant.
The articles will relate to the terms that you searched.
Click for more information about searching with Boolean Operators