Primo Library Search Tips

What is a Citation Trail?

Citation trails are an easy way to find articles related to a relevant article that you've already found! 

When you follow a citation trail, you have two options:

• Identify sources that have cited or referenced that article after that article's publication. This is also called Forward Searching. 
• Examine the references or works cited of that article to identify relevant sources published before that article was published. This is also called Backward Searching.

How to Follow a Citation Trail in Primo

Some Primo results may have red arrow icons that appear above the title in the search results that can help you easily follow a citation trail.

Clicking upward branching arrows, or  icon, performs a search for items that have cited that article - Forward Searching.
Clicking downward branching arrows, or  icon, performs a search for items that are cited by that article - Backward Searching.

Please note

• Not all article results in Primo will have these icons, but you can still use the citation trail technique in other ways.
• The citation trail search results may not be all articles cited in or cited by that article.
• If you come across an item you think would be great but that we do not have access to, please submit an interlibrary loan request; we will do our best to borrow the item on your behalf.

Searching for a Journal

Primo allows you to easily search the library's journal holdings via the Journal Search tool located in the top navigation bar of Primo.

Once you begin typing an exact title, Primo will present you with options to click and search.

You can also browse all journals based on category by navigating to the left hand side of Journal Search and selecting a category, or discipline.

Note that the search bar and side nav cannot be used at the same time.

Search within a Journal

Primo allows you to search within most journals without leaving the search interface. To do so, locate the full record display of the journal, navigate to the ‘Search Inside’ section, and perform your search using the search box. 

Please note that not all journals in Primo support this feature. If you find a journal that does not support "Search inside," please contact us and we will see if it's possible to add support for a specific journal.

This performs an advanced search with the ISSN and your keyword search and will return results limited to the specific journal.