There are two main reasons.  Firstly we may not have access to the journal article you need, and secondly we may not have access to the article on the journal platform you have found the article on, but we may have access through another service Do we have access?

To check if we have access to the article you need to use the Search box on the Library webpage.  Search using the journal publication title, rather than the article title, to see if the Library has a subscription.  If the Library has a subscription the journal should appear near the top of the results.  Check the journal record to see if the subscription includes the year the article you need was published.  If we have access, click the link to access it, then browse to the year and issue for the article you need, or search on the journal homepage.

You may need to sign in to access the article if you're not on the University network.  Look for an Institution, Shibboleth or Access Management Federation option.  Then choose University of St Andrews from the list of Universities, and login when directed to the University of St Andrews Single sign-on page.

If the Library doesn't have access to the article you need you can request it using the Inter-Library Loans service.

If you've had any problems accessing an article which you think the Library should have access to, please email us with the details and we'll investigate and get back to you.