A-Z Databases: SpringerLink

Go to Databases A-Z and select 'SpringerLink'.

In the box under 'Access through your institution' type in 'University of the West of Scotland'.

Click on the University of the West of Scotland link when it appears under this box.

If you are asked for a username/password please use your UWS staff or student details.

SpringerLink provides access to the following content in a wide range of subjects:

• Journal articles
• Books
• Conference proceedings/papers
• Reference works
• Protocols

Please note that not all content may be included in our UWS subscription.  Please refer to the 'Getting the Full Text' section of this Guide.

SpringerLink offers a basic/quick search option at the top of the homepage.

Select keywords and/or phrases to describe what you want to look for and type these into the search box provided. Click on the magnifying glass to the right of this box to carry out the search.

You can refine the search results by:

• Content type
• Discipline
• Subdiscipline
• Language

The PowerPoint presentation below provides a comprehensive introduction to using the SpringerLink platform.

The Advanced Search option is available by clicking on the 'cog' symbol to the right of the Quick/Basic search box.

• Phrase search - include the terms in quotation marks to ensure that they appear together (e.g. "listed buildings") or use the "with the exact phrase" option on the Advanced Search page.

• Boolean search:
  • AND narrows results. All connected terms must be included in the results (e.g. "listed buildings" AND restoration).
  • OR broadens results. Either connected term can be included in the results (e.g. "listed buildings" OR "heritage buildings").
  • NOT narrows results. The second term must be excluded from the results (e.g. "listed buildings" NOT restoration).
• Wildcards - use a question mark (?) to represent one character and an asterisk (*) to represent zero or more characters (e.g. wom?n will find either woman or women) (e.g. legislat* will find legislate, legislation or legislating).

Search results are ranked in order of Relevance (usually the best option), but can be changed and listed by Date so that the most recent results display first.

Searches can also be limited by date so that only information published within a specified time is searched (e.g. 2010 - 2021).

Further information on using the Search function can be found using the link below.

UWS Library does not subscribe to all of the journals and eBooks available from SpringerLink.

If an item is unavailable via our subscription, it might be possible to source a free copy on the internet that is provided under an open access arrangement. This can be checked using Google Scholar. Type in one author's surname and add the title of the article in quotation marks (to look for the words in the same order). If the article is freely available, you will see a PDF or HTML notation to the right of the citation.

You may also be able to get the article by requesting an Inter-Library Loan.

Springer has its own channel on YouTube; there is a wide range of videos available covering all aspects of the Springer platform.  These include:

Welcome to SpringerLink

Searching & Browsing

Journals

eBooks

Citations & Metrics

Many of the more popular videos are available in languages other than English.

More information on using the SpringerLink platform is available from the Springer Support website.

• You may wish to set up a personal account within SpringerLink.  Please note that while this allows you to access additional features of the database, it does not give you access to additional full-text content to which UWS Library does not subscribe!
• Click on the 'Sign up/Log in' option at the top of the home page
• Detailed information on how to set up an individual account is available here:  Register/create a new account on Springer.com

Accessibility Statement

This work in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.