Off-campus access to research databases is restricted to current CSU faculty, staff, and students.

To access research databases from off-campus, you will have to authenticate first -- select Cleveland State University, and then enter your Name, CSU ID No., and Library PIN. If you don't have a Library PIN yet, then you can create one on the My Account page.

-Many articles are available full text online in HTML or PDF format inside the research databases.

-If not, then select the yellow Find It! button or the Full Text Finder(s) link to determine the availability of a specific article when searching the databases. You may be able to connect to the full text of the article in another database. Just follow the links!

-If the article is NOT available in the database or by selecting the other links, then check Journals at CSU. Use Journals at CSU to determine if the Library provides full text access (either online or in print) to the TITLES of specific journals, magazines, and newspapers.

-Search for the article title in Google Scholar.

-If the article is not available in any of the sources mentioned above, then request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Here are the instructions for setting up OLinks in Google Scholar for researching from home. There are two sets of instructions, depending on which version of Google Scholar you are using. In both cases, you will end up with two entries like this:

The “new modern look” of Google Scholar:

1. Access Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com
2. Click on the link for Settings on the upper right
3. Click on the link for Library links on the left hand side
4. In the search box, enter OhioLINK, click on the blue search button, and check box for OhioLINK
5. In the same search box, enter WorldCat, click on the blue search button, and check box for WorldCat
6. Click the blue Save button

The “old venerable look” of Google Scholar:

1. Access Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com
2. Click the link for Scholar Preferences
3. Look for the text Library Links
4. In the search box, enter OhioLINK, click Find Library and check box for OhioLINK
5. In the same search box, enter WorldCat, click Find Library and check box for WorldCat
6. Click the Save Preferences button

ARTICLES are published in periodicals -- JOURNALS, MAGAZINES, and NEWSPAPERS. To find articles on a topic, search the Michael Schwartz Library's RESEARCH DATABASES.

The databases are listed in Alphabetical Order by Title and grouped by Subject Category on the Library's website. The Library also provides access to several Newspaper Research Databases.

Research Databases contain citations or references to articles. Most databases also contain the full text of many articles, either in HTML or PDF format. The Library pays to provide access to these Research Databases -- they are not free!

For academic research, you should include articles from SCHOLARLY, PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS. These journals are sometimes called REFEREED JOURNALS. In the peer review process, an article is assessed by others experts in the same discipline before it is accepted for publication in a scholarly journal. Most Research Databases will allow you to LIMIT your results to peer-reviewed journals when searching

The Michael Schwartz Library provides access to thousands of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals online via the Research Databases and in paper format on the 4th floor of the Library.

Start with some of the Research Databases listed below to locate ARTICLES on a topic.

If the article is not available full text in the database you are searching, remember to click on the Find It! button. This will take you to the OLinks screen. If the article is available online in another database, then OLinks will connect you to it. See the instructions to the left for Accessing the Full Text of an Article.