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College of Veterinary Medicine Research Guide

A research guide for CVM teaching, learning, research, and projects, brought to you by your CVM Library!

How to Identify and Find a Citation

 

Photo: Stacks of Books beside a Man Typing on Laptop, 2021, by Tima Miroshnichenko, is used under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Often, you'll need access to an article or book that has been cited somewhere in the literature.  The hard part is that sometimes the citation is incomplete--you know the title, but not the journal--or the journal name has been abbreviated.  Here’s how to figure out 1) what you’re looking for and 2) whether you have access to it.

 

Easiest way to do both at once:

 

Type the title into the Discovery box on the Library’s homepage.  Go to http://library.msstate.edu, and type the article title into the Discovery search box.  The Discovery service searches through every MSU database and the catalog to see if we have access to an item.  Once you find the article, click on the Find It button to see if we have access to it electronically.

 

If you don’t find it through Discovery:

 

See if MSU Libraries has the correct volume and issue of the journal.  Go to the online catalog. Type the title of the journal into the Search box to see if MSU Libraries has the journal in print or provides access electronically.  If you see the title of the journal as an electronic resource, click the Find It button to see if we have access to it electronically.

 

If you can’t read the name of the journal because it’s abbreviated:

 

Go to PubMed's list of journals limiter and type the abbreviation into PubMed’s advanced search box.  It will return a list of possible title matches.

 

If you have incomplete information:

 

  1. Use Discovery.  Go to http://library.msstate.edu, and type whatever information you have into the Discovery search box. 
  2. Use Single Citation Matcher tool.  Go to PubMed's Single Citation Matcher and type whatever information you do have into the form.
  3. Google whatever information you do have.

 

 

 

 

Remember…

  • If MSU Libraries doesn't have access to an item, you can borrow it via InterLibrary Loan
  • The FIND IT button is your friend!  Always click to see what we have access to!