CSU Library Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Articles on a variety of topics can be found in the library's online databases. On the main library page, utilize the Discovery Search box for searching your keywords, or click the Databases link and choose a database title from the list that appears. For information about the topics covered by the individual databases, click A-Z Databases or contact a CSU librarian for a database recommendation. Check out our Finding Articles Quick Start Guide or click here for a short video on how to find articles.

Peer-reviewed or scholarly articles can be found in most of our online databases. Once inside a database, look for a box to check labeled 'scholarly' or 'peer reviewed'. For more information, click here for a short video on how to find peer-reviewed articles.

For information about the topics covered by the individual databases, click A-Z Databases and review the brief descriptions found below the database titles or contact a CSU librarian for a database recommendation.

For business articles, start your search in one of our business databases such as Business Source Ultimate or ABI/INFORM Collection.

Be aware that URLs found in the browser address bar will expire after you leave the database webpage associated with that URL. To save a permanent URL link back to an article record page, look for the Permalink option under the Tools on the right side of the record page of the article or e-book you are viewing. To download an article to your computer for later use, look on the article's detailed record page for a link to PDF Full Text or HTML Full Text.

Peer-reviewed articles are published in scholarly journals that use the peer-review process to select articles for publication. In the peer-review process, an article written by an expert in a particular field of study is submitted to a scholarly journal on that academic subject. The article is then reviewed by a panel of individuals who are also experts in that academic subject; they are the scholarly peers of the person who wrote the article. The panel members use a strict set of standards to determine the quality of the article and ultimately decide if the article will be published in that journal. This review adds an element of authority and validity to the article due to the confirmation from other experts within that field.

In the Discovery Search box on the library home page, click the “Search All” tab, and type part or all of the article title inside quotation marks in the keyword search box. If you are unable to find the article searching this way, make sure the Discovery keyword search box is empty, and click the “Search” button. On the next screen, look for the “Supplemental Sources” section in the left column, click it, and choose the “ProQuest Searching” button. In the search box on the next page, type part or all of the article title in quotation marks. Check out the How to Conduct Title Searches video tutorial for further assistance.

On the library home page, click the E-Journals box, and choose Publication Finder in the dropdown. Type the name of the specific journal in the box on the page that comes up and search. If the library has coverage of the journal, its name will come up in the list. Listed below the name of the journal will be one or more library databases where the journal is located. View this related guide for this step by step process. *Note: Sometimes journals that are housed in a ProQuest database will not come up in the Publication Finder. For any questions regarding this, please reach out to a librarian.

A database folder is a feature of the library's database and is not directly affiliated with the library or your myCSU Student Portal sign in. The database folders are provided by the individual database vendors: EBSCO, ProQuest, Gale, and others. In order to use a database folder feature inside a database, you will first need to create a free, personal account. Without an account any resources you save to the folder feature will not be tied to a permanent folder location and will be emptied out of the folder once you log out of your current library session or once your session times out. For more information on this, please view the Creating Personal Research Folders video tutorial.