FAQ: How do I use the Periodical Finder to locate the full-text of a citation generated by ChatGPT, from Google, or referenced in a scholarly work?
Citations generated by ChatGPT and from Google searches should be carefully checked for accuracy if you plan to include them in your work. ChatGPT has been known to fabricate citations and database citation tools do not always format the citation correctly.
Use the Library's Multi-Search or Periodical Finder to both verify that a citation exists and to locate the full-text of the source described by the citation. Use the Library's Guide to Citing Your Sources to correctly format your citations. For details about correctly attributing the work of others, see the SNHU Academic Integrity Policy for online students or for campus students.
Periodical Finder (for article citations, not books)
The Periodical Finder is a list of journals, magazines, trade publications, and newspapers organized alphabetically by title as well as by subject. The list includes both scholarly and popular publication titles, and each publication displays a list of the databases which contain the years available for that title. The citation you have may provide the date, volume, and issue number of the publication that contains the article, but even a partial citation (author, article title, journal title) can be useful.
For example, the following article citation (this one in APA format) might appear in a Google search, or in ChatGPT or AI output, or in a published list of references, and you want to locate the full text so you can verify the article exists and to correctly cite it. View this infographic for identifying details of an APA citation This link opens in a new window. The citation details needed for using the Periodical Finder are highlighted in blue below, in order of (Publication Year), Journal Title, Volume(Issue Number), and Page Numbers. The Author and Article Title are less useful at this point:
Skauge, T. (2020). Space Mining & Exploration. Journal of Corporation Law, 45(3), 815–832.
You can also use the Multi-Search to search by the title of an article or book.
Content authored by: CD
- Open the Periodical Finder from the Shapiro Library home page using the drop-down menu under Find Articles, eBooks, & More:
- Copy-and-paste or enter the Journal Title into the search box:
- A list of databases appears, each database showing the publication date range of the journal available in that database. Click on a database with the date range that includes the Year supplied in the citation. There may be several databases to choose from - ProQuest Central is used in this example:
- Select the Year, Volume Number and Issue Number of the journal and click View issue to see the table of contents of that issue:
- Scroll the table of contents for the needed article. Note the articles are listed in order by Page Numbers. A link to the Full text of the article and a citation tool (in this example the " icon on the right) are also provided in most cases:
Content authored by: CD