Indexes Lead to Sources
Sources have citation information
When you perform a search in an online index you get a list of articles that match your search terms. The index provides important detailed information about the article, called a citation. Following is an example of a typical citation from an online index:
The labeled parts in the image -- the author, title, periodical name, date, volume/issue, and page number -- are also the parts you will need for your list of sources if you use the article.
Depending on the database you're using, the citation may look different, but all those parts should be there.
An online periodical index does much more than give you just the citation for an article. Depending on which index you are using, you might also get:
- an abstract, or summary, of the article
- the full text of the article
- additional search words and links to related articles
- the type of article