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Ferris State University FLITE Library

Nursing Research Guide: General for BSN, MSN, & DNP: Full Text Linking

Help - How do I get the Full Text?

Only finding an abstract or citation for an article when searching within databases?  No worries, just look for the Ferris FullText link.

The Ferris FullText link tends to looks like one of the following:

Ferris FullText link screenshot

Example Database Results with Ferris FullText Link

Not all databases will display the results in the same format, but regardless of the results list's layout, locate the Ferris FullText link if the article isn't immediately available in full text. Below are examples of the Ferris FullText link in databases.

CINAHL Example:

  • In CINAHL the Ferris FullText link shows in the results list under each result.
  • Two Ferris FullText options display in the database - click on either one.

Screenshot of CINAHL Results set with the Ferris FullText links

PubMed Example:

  • In PubMed you must click on the article title to go into the full record, and then you'll see the Ferris FullText option on the right-hand side of the record.
  • LOOK OUT! Often a publisher's link will display in addition to the Ferris FullText link. If the publisher's link is stamped free or open access, click on it; otherwise use the Ferris FullText link so you're not asked to purchase the article by the publisher! 
  • Never pay for an article as a Ferris student! We either subscribe to the journal, or can request the needed article (or book, book chapter, etc.) via Interlibrary Loan. Learn more about Interlibrary Loan by continuing down this page.

Screenshot within PubMed record reiterating full text information

 

I clicked Find It or Ferris Full Text. Now What?????

After clicking on Find It, you may see one of the following:

1) Read Article or Download PDF: Click on either option to go directly to the article's full text. Automatically download the article and save it!

Screenshot of Read Article displaying for full text

Screenshot showing Download PDF for full text

2) Available online through the Library's linking system:

  • Under View Online click on a link under Full text availability to link out to the desired resource.

  • Often there are multiple linking options under View Online. Pick any link, and if for some reason the first link doesn't work, try another one (and please report the broken link)

Screenshot of FLITE's full text linking with View Online option reiterating above information

3) Available through Google Scholar or Interlibrary Loan:  The library can't subscribe to every journal, but try Google Scholar to see if the article has been posted online, and if not you can use Interlibrary Loan to request an online copy of the article (Interlibrary Loan is free!).  You'll first be prompted to login with your MyFSU credentials to check for full text availability:

Screenshot of Ferris Login for full text options

Next, try Google Scholar, and if that doesn't work for full text, you can use Interlibrary Loan!

Screenshot showing options of Google Scholar, Interlibrary Loan, and Report a Broken link

If links are broken, please report broken links so we can fix them!  Please continue to the section below to learn how to use Interlibrary Loan.

ILL (Interlibrary Loan) Basics

The Ferris Library, FLITE, cannot subscribe to every journal available. If there is no Full Text option available after clicking on Find It or trying Google Scholar:

Interlibrary Loan Instructions:

  1. If you have never used Interlibrary Loan (ILL) before, you must first set up an account.  Please do the following:

  • Go through the above-linked screen, and at the bottom click on First Time Users Click Here.

  • Fill out every field with an asterisk, then hit Submit Information, and you've created your own personal ILL account.

  • *Please note, the ILL username and password is simply anything that you can remember, so you don't have to get too fancy.

Once you have an ILL account created, the Find It link makes it simple to request desired articles via interlibrary loan.

  1. Click on the GO button by ILL (Interlibrary Loan)

  2. You'll be taken to the screen to login to your personal interlibrary loan account

  3. Once logged in, you'll notice all of the article information has been filled in, simply scroll to the bottom of the screen and hit Submit Request.
  4. Your article request will be processed, and when the article is secured, it will be posted online in your account.  You will receive an e-mail notice from the library that your article is available.  The e-mail contains a link to login to your ILL account.  Once logged in, select View, and then select Electronically Received Articles
  5. Your article will be in PDF format, and you can print or save the article.  Please print or save the article soon after receiving notice of its availability - articles are removed from your account after 4 weeks for copyright reasons.