Q. Where can I get help using the Science Direct database?

Searching Science Direct:

The Boolean operators “and”, “or”, and “not” work on ScienceDirect. This means that if you search for the phrase “elbow joint replacement AND shoulder joint replacement”, the system should retrieve all articles that contain both those phrases. If you search for “elbow joint replacement OR shoulder joint replacement”, you will find articles that talk about either of those phrases, not necessarily in the same article. Lastly, if you search for “elbow joint replacement NOT shoulder joint replacement”, you will only see articles that discuss elbows, because any articles with the phrase “shoulder joint replacement” will be omitted from the search (even if the phrase was only mentioned once). Using the Not operator is not often recommended, because there is a high chance for eliminating valuable articles from the search. 

After you’ve done a search and you see a list of articles, you’ll also see a series of filters on the left side of your screen. Under the heading “Article Type”, you’ll see “Review articles” and “Research articles”. Review articles tend to not have original research, and are just summaries and discussions of previous works and articles that have been written. Research articles contain original research, and discuss the process of acquiring and the use of that research. Click the button for “Research articles”, and that will pull up all the articles in your search fall under that category.

The library catalog (or the “Find Full Text” option from another database) said we had an article on ScienceDirect, but I can’t access it.

First, make sure that you are on the Pepperdine proxy server by accessing ScienceDirect through the library website homepage (click the button that says “Databases and E-Journals”, then choose “S” from the A-Z database list, then choose “ScienceDirect”). If you have to log in using your Pepperdine CAS, that’s a really good sign. Then after you enter your search into the database, look at the filters which are on the left side of the screen. Scroll down to “Access type”, then check the box that says “Open Access”. All the articles in the search should be ones you can access.    

If you found a Science Direct article and are having trouble accessing it, there are three different options for help. First, copy and paste the title of the article into the main library catalog (​https://library.pepperdine.edu/​), and see if it is available on another database. Second, copy and paste the title into Google Scholar. There are a lot of full-text PDFs there. Third, contact your librarian for assistance.