Journal Information Sources

TOOLS TO IDENTIFY RELEVANT JOURNAL ARTICLES

Ovid (for MEDLINE, CINAHL,etc.)
Other Journal Article Databases

TOOLS TO LOCATE AND OBTAIN JOURNAL ARTICLES

Electronic Journals: A to Z
List of Print Journals at Wilson Dental Library
List of items in Bindery Preparation
Interlibrary Loan Request

OTHER JOURNAL-RELATED TOOLS

Instructions for Authors of Journal Articles (links to individual titles)
Directory of Currently Published Journals
List of Journals Indexed in Medline
Journals with Links to Publisher Web Sites in PubMed
Journal Citation Reports (comparative Impact Factors for scientific journals)

TIPS FOR FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES

Identifying relevant articles

Databases like those included in the Ovid system and other related databases can be searched by subject or author to retrieve citations to relevant journal articles. Instructions for using the Ovid system are available online and as a printed brochure at the Reference Desk.

Finding the complete text of an article in the library

Once you have obtained citations to useful journal articles, you will need to locate the full text of the article, either online or in print. Many Ovid citations include online links to the full text of the article. Many additional titles are available online in full text as part of the library's electronic journals collection.

Most articles, however, are still available only in print and must be retrieved from the print journals collection on the lower level of the library. Citations from the Ovid databases include information about USC library holdings in the Local Messages section of the complete reference display.

To confirm that the library holds a particular journal title, you can check either the List of Journals Currently Received or the library's full catalog of book, journal, and multimedia holdings, HELIX. Use the Title Browse or Title Keyword search in HELIX to find a particular journal title, and look at the end of the full record to determine what years the library holds. The printed lists of journal holdings that can be found in the reference area of the library also include the holdings of the LAC+USC Medical Center libraries and the Doheny Eye Hospital library. For journals in disciplines such as psychology, gerontology, and bioengineering, it may also be useful to check HOMER, the catalog of the ISD libraries on the University Park Campus.

The Wilson Dental Library journal collection is arranged alphabetically by title, so you may need to translate title abbreviations if they appear in your citations. If you find the title you want in the collection but the particular volume you want is not on the shelf, check the bindery list to see if the volume is in bindery preparation (in which case you can request it at the loan desk) or at the bindery (in which case you will have to wait until the return date indicated).

If you want the library to do all the work for you, just submit a request to the Photocopy Service. Photocopy Service fees vary depending on the affiliation of the requestor and how soon the document is needed.

Obtaining articles not available at Wilson Dental Library

If you are willing to travel to a nearby institution, check a catalog such as the University of California's MELVYL system (choose database: Periodicals Titles) or Cal Tech's CLAS. Otherwise you can submit an interlibrary loan request, for which service fees normally apply. Loans from USC libraries on the University Park Campus are free of charge.