- Frequently Asked Questions

The most frequently asked questions from users concerning Fulltext@MSK are listed below. If you need additional information or to submit a question, please complete the Ask a Librarian form.

• What is Fulltext@MSK?
• How does Fulltext@MSK work?
• Which databases and journals have the Fulltext@MSK feature?
• Why is the link to the full-text journal article sometimes not available?
• I clicked on "retrieve full text" but I only get to the journal's home page. Why?
• When I click to retrieve the full text, my article is not there. Why not?
• Why is the full text option NOT available when I know the Library has electronic access?
• Why does the menu options in the Fulltext@MSK window vary?
• Sometimes there are two options for full text displayed on the service menu. Why?
• Why do only some databases have the Fulltext@MSK feature?
• If the full-text service is not listed in the Fulltext@MSK menu window, does this mean the article is not available online?
• The link to Tri-Cat (Library online catalog), does not always appear. Why?
• Why are there multiple windows?
• What do I do when I see the message "bad URL" or "Error 404" or "not found" or any message which contains a negative comment?
• How do I use Fulltext@MSK with PubMed?

Fulltext@MSK provides direct access from a journal citation to the full text of the article or to the Library's Document Delivery Services Request form, where you can immediately submit your request to receive the article when the online version is not available. Users can also export a citation to EndNote or Reference Manager, or check Tri-Cat, the Library's online catalog. Simply click on the Fulltext@MSK button and a service menu will open in a new browser window with available options for the specific citation. For additional details on how this technology works, read How does Fulltext@MSK work?

The links provided by Fulltext@MSK are dynamic and context sensitive and the menu shows you options available for that specific article. If full text is immediately available, you will be linked directly.

Many of the databases and journal publishers' sites are "OpenURL enabled" -- the technology behind this linking feature. Because this service is context specific, menu service options will change from citation to citation. When you display search results from a database and click on the Fulltext@MSK button, you will have one or more of the following options:

• Direct link to the full text for journal articles that are available through Open Access or a Library subscription
• Ability to perform a search in Tri-Cat, the Library's online catalog
• Ability to submit a request to Document Delivery Services. The request form automatically populates with the bibliographic information for the article
• Ability to send an email to Ask a Librarian

This option is available in most major databases including PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, BIOSIS Previews, the Ovid databases (PsycINFO and CINAHL and others), and from specific journal publishers. In addition, you can also send a message to Ask a Librarian.

Fulltext@MSK will get you as close to the full text as it can, given the structure and quality of the data provided by database vendors and publishers. Sometimes you'll go straight to the full text; sometimes you'll have to navigate the publisher's site yourself to get to the full text.

Also, you may not link directly to the journal article if the citation information is incorrect. If the volume or issue numbers do not match exactly with the journal publisher's information, then it is impossible for a direct connection to be made to the article. This often happens with volumes that contain two issues (e.g., volume 56, issues 1 and 2), with supplements, or with citations that appear in PubMed before the journal has been published.

There are several possible reasons why you were unable to get to the full text article which include:

• Sometimes the article citation appears in a database before the publisher has made the full text available. Complete the Ask a Librarian form located on the Fulltext@MSK service menu to confirm the status of the publication
• The publisher or author withheld the full text of the article. Please let us know when you encounter any missing articles by completing the Ask a Librarian form. Then send a request for the article to Document Delivery Services
• Fulltext@MSK uses the citation information (volume, issue & page number) to attempt to link directly to the article and typographical errors in the citation will result in Fulltext@MSK not being able to provide you with the full text. In many cases, you can use the publisher's site to search for the article title or author(s) to locate the correct citation information. You can also complete the Ask a Librarian for assistance with citation verification.

There are a few journal titles that will either not accept links or are not enabled to work with link resolving technology. These titles cannot be configured to appear in the Fulltext@MSK service menu. Electronic Resources page provides a complete list of all the full text journals we have in our collection.

When you see more than one option for full text displayed on the service menu this means that the Library subscribes to the journal from two different service providers. This sometimes happens when the Library subscribes to a package of journals such as ScienceDirect.

Not all databases are capable of supporting the Fulltext@MSK feature. Library Staff have configured this feature with all databases that currently accept it and continue to monitor the content providers we work with for confirmation on when link resolving technology will be enabled with their product or service.

If there is no full-text service listed on the Fulltext@MSK menu, it means that the article is not available online:

• via Open Access
• via a Library subscription
• via the publisher (Publisher does not support the Open URL linking standard)

See Why is the fulltext option NOT available when I know the Library has electronic access?. You can also search Tri-Cat to see if the print version of the journal is available at one of the Tri-Institutional Libraries (MSKCC Library, Rockefeller University Library, Weill Cornell Medical Library). In either case, the Library can often obtain an electronic copy (.pdf file) through Document Delivery Services.

When you click on Fulltext@MSK, a new window opens, listing all the service options available for the item. When you select an option, a third window opens in which all activities generated from the Fulltext@MSK menu take place. Remember, you can resize the windows to suit your viewing preferences. In addition, sometimes windows are hidden behind other windows.

If the citation is incorrect or does not pass correctly through the link resolver, you may get a bad URL or Error 404 message. If this happens, please report the access issue to us. Note: You may still be able to access the full text of the article from the Library's Electronic Resources page or directly from the publisher's Web site. Your feedback about any problems you encounter is critical so that we can quickly correct these types of issues. Please send any questions or problems to Ask a Librarian.

Look for the Fulltext@MSK button within your database search results (e.g. from a PubMed search). Simply click to access the full text or other available service options. There is a special URL to display Fulltext@MSK in PubMed.

Simply go to:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?otool=mskcclib
Bookmark this URL for future reference.