Academic Search Complete: Search Results

Search Results List   |   Individual Records

This is what your search result list should look like:

Here is the breakdown of each major part:

1 - Search Results: This is your total number of results. A too-small or too-large number here may mean that you need to go back and tweak your search. 

2 - Results Order: Use this drop-down menu to sort your results. You can sort by date, author, source, or relevance.

3 - Title: The blue text is the title of the article. Directly underneath the title is the author name, journal title, publication date, volume and issue numbers, and page numbers. You can click on the title to go to the record for that article.

4 - Content: If the article is available full text through Academic Search Complete, there will be a link here.  Some articles are available HTML full text and others are PDF full text. If the article isn't available full text, there will be a "Search for Full Text" link. For more information on how this link works, visit Search Tips.

5 - Full Text: You can check or uncheck this box. Checking the box will limit your results only to things that can be viewed and printed in its entirety via the database. Make sure you hit the "Update Results" button when you are done.

6 - References Available: You can check or uncheck this box. Checking the box will limit your results only to things that have references available. Make sure you hit the "Update Results" button when you are done.

7 - Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals: You can check or uncheck this box. Checking the box will limit your results only to scholarly (peer reviewed) journals, which may be required by your instructor. Make sure you hit the "Update Results" button when you are done.

8 - Publication Date: Use the slider bar to specify a date range to search in. Make sure you hit the "Update Results" button when you are done.

9 - Limiters: On the left-hand side of the screen are several boxes to limit your results. You can click on each major heading to see the options underneath. Click on any of the options that apply to what you are looking for.

This is what an individual record should look like:

1 - Full Text: If an article is available full text from Academic Search Complete, links will appear here to the full article. If it is not available full text, there will be a "Search for Full Text" link here instead.

2 - Print: Click on this icon to print. You can print the full text HTML, the citation, and/or the abstract. Note: To view and print full text PDF articles, you must click on the PDF Full Text link and open the entire article in a new window. You will be able to print the PDF from there.

3 - Email: Click on this icon to email the article.

4 - Save: Click on this icon to save the article.

5 - Cite: Click on this icon to cite the article. A pop-up window will open that gives the proper citation in AMA, APA, Chicago, Turabian and MLA styles. Note: Be sure to double check the citation for accuracy. Library staff can help with this.

6 - Add to Folder: Click on this icon to add the article to your folder. Use your folder to email, save, or print several articles at once. You can also create an account and save your articles for future reading.

7 - Article Details: Here you can find the bibliographic information of the record. This includes article title, author, and journal information.

8 - Subject Terms: Every article will have at least one subject term. Click on any subject term to browse through similar articles.

9 - Abstract: Most articles will have an abstract (or summary) of the article. Read the abstract to make sure you can really use the article. Reading the abstract can save you a lot of time and work!

10 - Permalink: Click on this link to get the persistent link to the article. You can then use the link in your bibliography or to share with others.