Is it my school or does every medical student struggle to find full text articles for lit reviews?

[hfiso]

I'm at a fairly large DO school and we have plenty of database access through our library, but I'm still having access issues finding full text articles. Is this something every medical student faces or is my school particularly bad about this?

I want to know if this is common, because if not, I can help make this known to admin and possibly increase our database access.

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[Goro]

Has to be your school. I have no problems getting access to PDFs and if our Library doesn't have access tot hem they can get me a copy via inter-library loan.

In the mean time, you can set PubMed to find free articles. I forget how to do that though.

And failing that, simply email the contact author asking for a PDF, and telling them "our tiny Library doesn't subscribe to this journal".

Fun fact: back in the Pleistocene before the internet, we use to have postcards printed up to send to authors requesting a reprint or a copy of the article.

 

[Lawpy]

I don’t have any issues either so I suggest contacting your school’s librarian.

 

[shotgunlagoon]

Sci-hub is great for getting full text articles that are normally behind a paywall.

 

[shotgunlagoon]

In the mean time, you can set PubMed to find free articles. I forget how to do that though.

I think one of the filter options is "free fulltext," right next to the filters for publication year, article type, etc.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Definitely try using your library’s Inter library loan service to see if you can get articles they don’t subscribe to! I’ve gotten some really weird sources successfully that way

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Yes as everyone has said, inter library loan via your schools library is how you access them.