UC Article Linker
Help/FAQ
What is UC Article Linker?
How can I access UC Article Linker?
What will UC Article Linker show me?
Why is the “Article” link not always available?
Why do I sometimes get an “Article” link but not the “Journal” link?
How do I get to the article if there is only a “Journal” or “Database” link?
Sometimes there are many options for full text and journal links. Why?
How much information do I need to provide in order to search for a known article?
UC Article Linker provides an article level link even though the full text of the article is not available. Why?
Sometimes there are several links and buttons in a database that point to full text. Which one should I click?
Additional questions? A problem to report?
What is UC Article Linker?
UC Article Linker is a service that seamlessly links library resources from the Library Catalog, online databases, and other sources. When you find a citation or reference to a specific article in an online database, UC Article Linker supplies the best available path to the content (in full text), from anywhere in the library's collection.
How can I access UC Article Linker?
To access the article via UC Article Linker:
- Click the
button on the results list or record screen in an online database. - Click the “Search for a Known Article” link at “Finding Journals and Articles” or another referring page and fill out the form.
What will UC Article Linker show me?
You will be taken to the UC Article Linker results page with direct links to one or more of the following:
- ("Article” link): Full text of the article in HTML or PDF format, or an abstract of the article with a link to HTML or a PDF.
- (“Journal” link): A Web page that allows you to navigate to the required volume and issue and locate the full text of the article. Some pages allow you to search within a particular publication.
- (“Database title” link): Database homepage that must be searched to retrieve the full text.
- Library catalog.
- Interlibrary loan.
- Help (reference assistance options).
UC Article Linker results page

Why is the “Article” link not always available?
If the article link is absent from the UC Article Linker results page, it could be due to one of the following reasons:
- There is not enough data in the search criteria to trigger an article level link.
(See also How much information do I need to provide in order to search for a known article?) - The provider of the full text may not be able to translate completely the citation that is incoming.
- There may be incorrect data that prevents an accurate match.
- UC may not have access to 100% of content for a particular title.
Why do I sometimes get an “Article” link but not the “Journal” link?
Some providers do not organize their data by complete journal volumes, but they provide access to the article text directly.
How do I get to the article if there is only a “Journal” or “Database” link?
The “Journal” link will take you to a Web page that allows you to navigate to the required volume and issue and locate the full text of the article. Some pages allow you to search within a particular publication.
The “Database” link will take you to a database homepage that must be searched to retrieve the full text.
Sometimes there are many options for full text and journal links. Why?
The same journal is often available in more than one database. UC Article Linker will display the links to a variety of content accessible to the library. Please note that following a journal link and searching or browsing for the article does not always result in LOCATING the article full text – see an explanation below.
How much information do I need to provide in order to search for a known article?
You must supply information for at least one of the following required fields: journal title, ISSN, DOI, or PMID.
The more information you type in the article search form, the more likely you are to get a direct link to the article in the search results. If you don’t have the ISSN, you may do a catalog journal search and copy the journal ISSN from the library record.
If you do not have complete information, use the “Finding Journals and Articles” page to search for the journal title. See also How do I get to the article if there is only a journal or database link?
UC Article Linker provides an article level link even though the full text of the article is not available. Why?
This can occur for the following reasons:
- Meta-data appears in a database before the publisher has made the full text available. Sometimes the coverage dates are not supplied in the library's data and UC Article Linker will provide an article link with the hope that the library has access to that date range.
- Full-text articles are withheld from the online versions of the database by the publisher or author.
Sometimes there are several links and buttons in a database that point to full text. Which one should I click?

If the “HTML Full Text” or “PDF Full Text” link is available, click it to go directly to the text. If the full text link is not available or if the text does not display properly or you cannot access it for any reason, click “UC Article Linker.”
Additional questions? A problem to report?
Please click here to ask your question or report a problem with UC Article Linker. Please provide as much detail as possible.
Modified from:
Article Linker FAQ http://ns5hq7zn5a.search.serialssolutions.com/?SS_Page=help
University of Liverpool Library, Electronic Journals, GetFullText Help http://www.liv.ac.uk/library/techserv/ejrnl/getfulltext_help.html.