1. Start with Library Search for books, journals, articles and more.
Library Search is a great starting point but not everything is available there. If you want to search across all of our collections, search the databases too!
2. Use research databases to find articles, chapters and other academic papers in your field.
A research database contains detailed records of thousands of journal articles, book references and conference proceedings. These records usually include the article title, authors, abstract (a brief summary), keywords (to enable your search to find it) and more.
Use LibKey to help you get access to full text articles.
Click the LibKey icon above to add the extension to your web browser. Select 'University of Exeter' as your institution and login using your Exeter IT login when prompted.
Web of Science is a large multidisciplinary research database covering all subject areas.
You can use it to discover the global literature on a wide range of topics. It is not a full text database, but you can use it to discover published material and follow links through to discover the full text available on other services.
Watch the short video below to get started, or for in depth guidance explore the Web of Science learning site, YouTube Videos or the Web of Science LibGuide.
Scopus provides access to thousands of abstracts for articles, conference papers and book chapters across a range of subject disciplines.
For help with searching Scopus, see this video.
For more information about how to search SCOPUS, see their range of tutorials.
Environment Complete provides full text content of environmental literature from across the world. Subject coverage includes agriculture, ecosystem ecology, renewable energy sources, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, urban planning, and more.
Environment Complete uses the EBSCOHost platform. Watch the video below for an introduction on how to search the platform.
Biosis is an index to life sciences literature from across the globe. Subject coverage ranging from traditional areas of biology such as botany, zoology, and microbiology, to related and interdisciplinary fields such as agriculture, biotechnology, ecology and pharmacology. You can link out to the full-texts if they are part of our collection.
Watch the video below for an introduction on how to search the platform. Click here for a quick guide to the Biosis Citation Index.
Some databases provide information about the content of a journal article, but may not provide full-text access to the actual article itself.
See the following tabs for tips on how to track down the full text.
Is there a ‘Find this @ Exeter’ option next to your search result?
If so, click on the link to open the Full Text Finder Results. This lets you know whether it has found a full-text source for the article.
If it has, you will see a link to the full text article:
If not, you can check Library Search to see whether we have a subscription to the journal by clicking the Library Title Search link (See option 3).
Make a note of the article details and carry out a search in Library Search.
Change your Google Scholar settings to show links to University of Exeter subscribed content.
Go to Settings > Library Links and type ‘University of Exeter’ into the search box. The box below will appear.
Make sure the University of Exeter box is ticked and click on Save. Run your search in Google Scholar - sometimes the link to the PDF will appear alongside the results, as shown below.
You can also use the LibKey browser extension to help you get easy access to full text articles. Select 'University of Exeter' as your institution and login using your Exeter IT login when prompted.
University of Exeter LibGuide is licensed under CC BY 4.0
