Metadata, abstract and full text support different claims
Bibliographic metadata indicates that an item is registered or published under particular details. An abstract presents a selective summary written by the authors. Only the full article exposes definitions, sample, exclusions, analytic decisions, tables and limitations. A valid DOI does not replace reading.
Label your notes “full text read”, “abstract only” or “metadata only”. This prevents a record from being treated as fully evaluated during later drafting. Search snippets, machine-generated summaries and screenshots of results are not substitutes for the paper and cannot provide trustworthy page locators.
Work through lawful access routes
Resolve the DOI through your university network, library proxy or approved VPN. Search the title in the library catalogue and subject databases. Check institutional and disciplinary repositories and the authors' pages for a permitted manuscript. Unpaywall uses DOI information to point to known open locations, though the researcher must still verify version and content.
Where no copy is available, request interlibrary loan or document delivery and ask a librarian. An author may be able to share a lawful personal copy. Do not bypass technical controls or rely on an obviously unauthorised upload. Note the service, date and format through which you obtained the file that was actually read.
Compare accepted manuscripts with the version of record
An accepted manuscript may be close to the final article, while typesetting, pagination, corrections and supplementary content differ. Check title, author list, acceptance date, DOI and version label. A quotation needs a stable locator for the copy inspected. Where possible, cite the version of record while retaining the lawful repository link as an access route.
A preprint may differ much more. Compare method, sample size, tables and conclusions. Do not cite journal pagination for a claim verified only in an earlier preprint. Equally, do not call a repository PDF a preprint if it clearly identifies itself as the accepted author manuscript.
Cite the scholarly item, not the payment barrier
A journal reference contains creators, year, article title, journal, volume, issue, pages or article number, and DOI according to the required style. A note that the publisher page is paywalled is generally not part of the citation. Verify that the DOI and metadata describe the right work.
For a quotation, give a locator from the version read. Accepted manuscripts may have different pagination, so a stable section or paragraph can be more accurate where the style allows it. Keep publisher and repository links separately in research notes. Recheck for corrections or retraction before submission.
When the full text remains unavailable
Do not support a detailed statement about design, data or limitations from the abstract. You may transparently report what the abstract states when that fact is relevant, but explain the restricted evaluation. For a central empirical proposition, find an accessible independent source or narrow the argument.
A detailed discussion in another work does not give you access to the original. Only as an exception use the secondary-citation retrieval and disclosure path. Never invent a page number from a preview. An explicit evidence gap is more defensible than implied reading.
Support access for reviewers without redistributing the file
Give complete metadata and DOI, and where available an authorised open manuscript link. Examiners may have institutional access or request document supply. Do not upload a licensed publisher file to a public appendix merely for convenience. If the paper is indispensable to a closed assessment, ask the library or examination office about an approved route.
Evaluate quality separately from availability. Open access does not guarantee sound methods, and a paywall does not confer prestige or reliability. Apply the same checks for study design, conflicts, data and corrections to every publication model.
Inspect supplementary files separately. A full article without the method appendix or dataset may still leave the relevant claim unverifiable. Record each file and its access status.