Smart Search

So you need to find academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed article(s). These are the steps to get from your initial search results in MCPHS Smart Search to articles that might do what you need:

1. Double-Check Your Access 
   When you're looking at the search results page, if you see a gray bar at the top that says "Welcome Guest. MCPHS member? Log in for full-access" then click & log in with your MCPHS username and passwor
2. Refine Your Results 
   The great thing about Smart Search is you get all sorts of information from a variety of sources! But if you already know a bit about the topic and just need academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed article(s), then tell Smart Search to just show you those by using the Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) filter. [If you want to focus on other formats, use the Source Types filter.
3. Get the Article or Book 
   Use Access Options for all of the ways to access that content. Most of these links will go to the full text. For some articles, you will also get an option to View Complete Issue.
   
   Access Options is on the results page:
   and on the Page for a Specific Result:

If you use a link labelled Get Full Text (MCPHS), you will either get to the article or get a page with:

• A link to check if it is available for free through Google Scholar or another free / open access resource.
• A link to request the article through Interlibrary Loan. We'll work to get you an electronic copy in a few business days.

If something's acting strange:

• Use the chat button in the bottom right corner of MCPHS Smart Search to contact library staff. 
• Try using the Journal Search (from the Library homepage) to search for the exact article you want. You already have the citation information and can use it to find the article.

So you need to find academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed article(s). These are the steps to get from your initial search results in MCPHS Smart Search to articles that might do what you need:

1. Double-Check Your Access
   When you're looking at the search results page, if you see a gray bar at the top that says "Welcome Guest. MCPHS member? Log in for full-access" then click & log in with your MCPHS username and password.
2. Refine Your Results
   The great thing about Smart Search is you get all sorts of information from a variety of sources! But if you already know a bit about the topic and just need academic/scholarly/peer-reviewed article(s), then tell Smart Search to just show you those by using the Peer Reviewed filter. [If you want to focus on other formats, use the Source Type filter.]
3. Get the Article or Book
   Use Access Options for all of the ways to access that content. Most of these links will go to the full text. For some articles, you will also get an option to View Complete Issue. 
   
   Access Options is on the results page:
   
   and on the Page for a Specific Result:

If you use a link labelled Get Full Text (MCPHS), you will either get to the article or get a page with:

• A link to check if it is available for free through Google Scholar or another free / open access resource.
• A link to request the article through Interlibrary Loan. We'll work to get you an electronic copy in a few business days.

If something's acting strange:

• Use the chat button in the bottom right corner of MCPHS Smart Search to contact library staff. 
• Try using the Journal Search (from the Library homepage) to search for the exact article you want. You already have the citation information and can use it to find the article.

Sometimes you have an article citation from somewhere else, but you still need to full article. Here's how to get it in Smart Search:

1. Type (or copy & paste) the article title into the main search box on the Library homepage.
2. Click search.
3. Now that you're looking at search results in MCPHS Smart Search, if you see a gray bar at the top that says "Welcome Guest. MCPHS member? Log in for full-access" then click & log in with your MCPHS username and password.
4. Scroll until you find the article, then click on the title.
   Not finding it? Try these steps:
   • Use Advanced Search.
   • On the dropdown to the right of the search box, switch to title and search again.
   • If there's a subtitle (a phrase after ":" in the title) delete that phrase and search again. Use Advanced Search, and add the author in the second search box.
   • If none of those work, try searching using the steps in Find a Journal .
   • Check that the information about the article matches the citation you have.
5. Get the article by using Access Options on the top of the page for a specific result. It will have links to one or more of these: 
   • Get it From [a publisher] 
   • Linked Full Text 
   • PDF Full Text
   • LibKey Instant PDF
   • Get Full Text (MCPHS).

Learn more about Get Full Text (MCPHS)

If you've tried to search by article title with no luck, try starting finding the Journal:

1. If you're already in MCPHS Smart Search, go to the top of the page and click Publication Finder.
2. Type (or copy & paste) the journal title and click search.
3. If you see more than one result, look at the Full Text Access options, and click on the first one that includes the date of your article.
4. On the publication details page that opens,
   • check for a search box and search for the title OR
   • click on the year and then the volume and issue of your article (the citation will include this information).
5. Scroll until you find your article, then get the article using the link provided.

One of the first things you probably need to do is find scholarly articles. Use this interactive tutorial to practice getting to an article through the Library using a citation:

Get from a Citation to a Full-Text Article