Access the full-text

With access to thousands of journals, there are a variety of different ways to find out if we provide access to the one you need. To find a particular article, you need to know the journal title, year, volume and issue number.

Never pay for an article online - even if we don't have immediate online access, there are cheaper/free ways to get the full-text.

Linking from a Bibliographic Database

Accessing the full-text directly from the bibliographic database depends on a variety of factors. You should remember that the point of the bibliographic database is to help you find useful articles, not necessarily to provide the full-text, therefore….

If there is a full-text link – great, click on it!
If there is no link, or the link prompts you for payment, THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THIS ARTICLE. Your next step is to check the Library Catalogue (see below).

Linking from a Search Engine

Although not the best way to get an overview of published literature in your field, we recognise that you will still use search engines in your research, therefore…

If there is a full-text link – great, click on it!
If when you try to access the full-text (i.e. as a web page or by downloading a PDF), you are prompted for payment THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THIS ARTICLE. Your next step is to check the Library Catalogue (see below).

Check the Library Catalogue

The Library Catalogue gives details of both print and online holdings:

To see if we provide access to a journal article, search for the JOURNAL TITLE (not the article title)
If we have access to the journal, check we have access to the article you want by checking that we provide access to the relevant YEAR and VOLUME NUMBER (we don’t necessarily have complete runs of every journal that we take) - look at the “Holdings:” section to see the holdings information (i.e. which year our collection started – and possibly finished)
If we hold the print journal and the volume you need, you will then be able to go to the shelf and find the article you want – remember you may have to consult the ‘current periodicals’ section if it was published recently (shelved on Level 2 of the Riccarton Library)
If the catalogue record has an “Electronic Access” option you may have the option to link through to the full-text (you will note you are told how to access the resource both on and off-campus)

N.B. You cannot search the Library Catalogue for journal articles, if you want to find journal articles for your essay/project/research, there are other resources you can use.

Why can't I access the full-text?

Access to the full-text differs depending on the resource and what the Library has paid for access to (e.g. we may not have access to all titles within a resource or all years for a particular journal title). In addition, our subscription licenses mean that we provide access to the full-text through certain providers only (and only to legitimate users from the University). Therefore, you may be linking to the wrong provider or you may be having difficulties (especially if off-campus) if the provider does not recognise that your are from Heriot-Watt.

ALWAYS CHECK THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE TO SEE IF WE PROVIDE ACCESS.

What if HWUL doesn't have the item I need?

If checking the Library Catalogue shows that we do not have the full-text of the item in print or electronic format (whether it be a journal article, conference proceedings, thesis, book...), then you have various options open to you:

Passwords

Most resources do not require any username/password on-campus. All resources will require authentication off-campus. If you are asked for a password, on or off-campus, then in most cases this will be your Heriot-Watt username and password. Check the A-Z databases list, theA-Z Journals list or the Library Catalogue to be sure.

Note: If you are being asked for a password on-campus, or off-campus (when you have already logged-in), you are probably trying to access something we don't subscribe to. Therefore, if you have logged-in and still can’t access the full-text online, you should check the Library Catalogue – we might have access to the full-text in print, or online from another provider (if you are unsure, please contact the Library with details of what you are looking for). If we don’t have it at all, then you can request that we get it for you – for purchase in the Library or by borrowing it from another Library.

Help!

If you have any questions about accessing the full-text, please get in touch - the more details you give the quicker we will be able to answer, e.g.:

are you on/off campus
which particular journal/volume/issue are you trying to access
are there any error messages etc