FAQ
Students and Researchers
- How do I decide what kind of search to do?
- How can I improve my search?
- What are subject headings?
- How do I find full-text articles?
- How do I search for articles in particular languages?
- How do I truncate or use wildcards in my search?
- Is it possible to sort my results?
- Can I export my selected citations to EndNote or RefWorks?
- How do I email my citations?
- Do you index books or newspapers?
- Where do I find out if you index a specific journal?
- Do I need to be in the Spanish version of the site to find Spanish-language articles (or Portuguese, etc.)?
- Do I have to search the English versions of the HAPI Subject Headings in the English version of the site (or the Spanish or Portuguese headings in the respective version of the site)?
- Why are there abstracts for some articles but not others?
- Are there commonly-used words that cannot be searched in HAPI?
- Does the HAPI site work with assistive technologies?
Subscribers and Librarians
- How much does it cost to subscribe?
- What kinds of materials does HAPI include?
- Does HAPI include full text?
- What journals does HAPI include?
- Can I change the default text "Ask a librarian" in the search results for records that have no associated full text?
- Can you prorate our subscription?
- Do you provide branding options?
- Do you have a sample license agreement I can review?
- Does HAPI provide Counter-compliant usage statistics?
- Does HAPI provide IP-authenticated access?
- Does HAPI provide OpenURL linking?
- Does HAPI have a statement about accessibility compliance or a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)?
- Are you looking for new volunteer indexers?
Journal Editors and Publishers
- What are your criteria for inclusion?
- How do I submit a journal for consideration for inclusion in HAPI?
- How do we contact you to update information about our journal (new full-text URL, change of editors, publication frequency, etc.)?
HAPI+SciELO
- What is the HAPI+SciELO project?
- What’s the difference between HAPI and SciELO records?
- How do I find the SciELO records in HAPI?
- Is there full text available for the SciELO records?
- Are all the SciELO-México and SciELO-Brasil journals included in HAPI?
Students and Researchers
How do I decide what kind of search to do?
A good place to start is with the quick search box on the homepage. You can create a more advanced search by using Boolean operators, search terms, and search limits from our Advanced Search. Check out the help page to learn more about advanced searching.
For best results search HAPI in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Remember to check your spelling and use quotes for exact phrases. Fewer terms yield more results. For more tips and search advice visit the Search Help page.
These headings are a list of specific terms used to describe the content of an article (based on the subject headings developed by the US Library of Congress). Use these subject headings for more precise searches. Each subject heading has an English, Spanish and Portuguese version.
How do I find full-text articles?
We do our best to provide access to full-text wherever possible. To find full-text articles:
1. Under the Advanced Search option, click the button next to "Limit to Full Text" so it displays YES.
2. In the results page, under the Full-Text column, you will find icons linking you to the article.
3. You may need to search the new page with the citation information to find the full article on that site.
Many of the full text links we provide are open access. Others link to commercial sites which your institution may or may not have access to.
How do I search for articles in particular languages?
1. Under the Advanced Search option, you will see an option to Limit by Language.
2. Click on the desired language(s).
How do I truncate or use wildcards in my search?
HAPI automatically assumes truncation so there's no need to use a wildcard character (such as an asterik). For example, type polit into the search box and HAPI finds all records that include a word beginning with these 5 letters (such as politics, political, and politicians).
Is it possible to sort my results?
Yes! On your search results page, you will see a button on the top that says "Sort By". Click the button to sort by date of publication or alphabetically author by author.
Can I export my selected citations to EndNote or RefWorks?
Absolutely! Simply:
1. Select the citations you want to export from your search results page or Saved List.
2. Click the button labeled "Email-Export-Print".
3. Choose the Export or EndNote or Export to RefWorks option.
You can easily email your citations:
1. Select the citations you want to email from your search results page or Saved List.
2. Click the button labeled "Email-Export-Print".
3. Choose the Email Records option.
Do you index books or newspapers?
No, we only index academic (mostly peer-reviewed) journal articles from the humanities and social sciences on topics related to Latin America, the Caribbean region, and Latinx communities in the US. Until 2001, HAPI indexed book reviews.
Where do I find out if you index a specific journal?
There are two easy ways to find if we index a specific journal:
1. Search for a journal in the database from the Advanced Search page, where you can select the Journal options from the drop down menu and search for journal titles.
2. You can browse journal titles alphabetically in the Journals Indexed by HAPI page.
No. The English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions of the site include the exact same content.
No, all three languages of Subject Headings are searched in all of the versions of the site. However, the English Subject Headings will be displayed in your results in the English version of the site, the Spanish Subject Headings in the Spanish version, and the Portuguese Subject Headings in the Portuguese version.
Why are there abstracts for some articles but not others?
We began adding abstracts in the fall of 2017. Journal issues indexed after this time will include abstracts (where permissible). We're also adding abstracts to older issues, so you'll see more and more of these as time passes. Finally, not all journals include abstracts and some journals have not given us permission to reproduce their abstracts in HAPI.
When abstracts in various languages are available, we add the one that was written in the same language as the article. However, if the language of the only available abstract differs from the language of the article, we will add it as well.
Are there commonly-used words that cannot be searched in HAPI?
Yes, these are called stop words, and include very common words in the three main languages of the database such as and, the, el, y, ou, etc. These words are ignored in a search to avoid retrieving irrelevant results. Use quotation marks to force a search that includes a stop word. For example, "religion and literature" will search for this exact phrase even though it includes the stop word and. Use the advanced search if you would like to combine or exclude terms.
Does the HAPI site work with assistive technologies?
The HAPI site was designed to work with assistive technologies such as screen readers. These work best with our site when using the Firefox browser.
Subscribers and Librarians
How much does it cost to subscribe?
Current pricing and subscription details are listed on our Subscribe to HAPI page. Contact us at info@hapi.ucla.edu. Or call at 310-825-0810 if you'd like to speak with us directly.
What kinds of materials does HAPI include?
We include citations to articles in scholarly journals that deal with Latin American, the Caribbean, and Latinos in the United States and around the world. Our journals cover the social sciences and the humanities. Book reviews were included in HAPI up until 2001 when we decided to exclude them in order to index more journals.
While HAPI does not include full text within our database, we do provide links to the full text of over 170,000 articles. Many of the journals currently indexed in HAPI provide full text for their articles, often in multiple sites. Almost all of the journals published in Latin America that provide full text are freely available through open access policies. HAPI regularly searches for these full text sources and provides links within article records that redirect you to the full text source.
What journals does HAPI include?
Check out our Journals page to see a list of all journals currently and previously indexed by HAPI. The criteria we use to select our journals are listed below.
If we have no links to the full text of an article and you don't have OpenURL linking set up we put the default text "Ask a librarian" into the Full text column in the search results. If you'd prefer a different (equally brief) default, just let us know and we can customize that for you.
Can you prorate our subscription?
Yes, if you need your subscription dates to coincide with a specific schedule we'll be happy to prorate your access.
Do you provide branding options?
We can place your institution's name in the blue banner that tops every page in HAPI.
Do you have a sample license agreement I can review?
Sure, contact mjatoba@international.ucla.edu for a sample of our usual agreement.
Does HAPI provide Counter-compliant usage statistics?
Unfortunately, no but we do provide web-based access to usage statistics that include numbers of visits and searches.
Does HAPI provide IP-authenticated access?
Yes, we can authenticate using IPs as well as through usernames and passwords.
Does HAPI provide OpenURL linking?
Yes, all we need are the URLS for your link resolver and button graphic, as well as the alternate text description for the graphic.
HAPI's website was modified in 2017 to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and those using assistive technology. Contact info@hapi.ucla.edu for a copy of our VPAT.
Are you looking for new volunteer indexers?
Always! Read more about it, and contact us through this form.
Journal Editors and Publishers
What are your criteria for inclusion?
In addition to assessing the overall quality of the content of a journal, we consider the following criteria:
- Journals must regularly contain articles about Latin America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and/or Hispanics/Latinos in the United States. We do not index journals covering Spain or Portugal exclusively or those that focus on Spanish linguistics.
- The content focuses on the social sciences or the humanities.
- Journals should be academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed.
- Members of editorial or advisory boards should be listed, preferably reflecting involvement of scholars from multiple institutions and multiple countries.
- There should be evidence of a consistent publishing history.
- HAPI includes journals whether they are in print and/or available electronically.
How do I submit a journal for consideration for inclusion in HAPI?
First, please note the criteria listed above. If you believe your journal fits the criteria, please fill out this form. We will review it during the next review period, which typically happens every 18 months. Please note that due to limited resources, we are only able to add a small number of titles every review.
Please note that because of the large number of submissions we receive, we cannot respond to every inquiry. However, we contact all journals that are accepted for inclusion in HAPI.
Feel free to email us at info@hapi.ucla.edu. You can find additional contact information on our Contact page.
HAPI+SciELO
What is the HAPI+SciELO project?
The HAPI+SciELO project began as a collaboration between HAPI and SciELO-México, the Mexican site in the SciELO network of Latin American open access journal platforms. Since 2022, the project has expanded to include SciELO-Brasil. The project aims to promote greater accessibility of Latin American scholarship by including select journal records from SciELO-México and SciELO-Brasil in HAPI. This project is partially funded by a Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) Award for Institutional Collaborative Initiatives.
What’s the difference between HAPI and SciELO records?
HAPI and SciELO records are similar in many ways: both types of records will include basic article details such as title, author, journal name, journal date, etc., as well as subject keywords, and, where available, abstracts. However, the SciELO records do not go through the same indexing process and editorial review that HAPI records do. This means there are no HAPI subject headings describing the subject content and clicking on author name links in SciELO records does not find HAPI records by that author.
How do I find the SciELO records in HAPI?
The SciELO records are included in the same database search indexes that provide HAPI search results. When you use the search box in the banner at the top of the page or the Advanced Search page, you are searching both HAPI and SciELO records and your search results will include both. You can easily identify the SciELO results by the HAPI+SciELO graphics that appear in the records.
Is there full text available for the SciELO records?
Yes! SciELO is an open-access journal platform, so all the SciELO search results include a link to the freely available full text of the article.
Are all the SciELO-México and SciELO-Brasil journals included in HAPI?
Not all of them! SciELO includes journals in the sciences -- like biology and engineering -- that are outside HAPI’s scope. HAPI already indexes many of the journals that are included in the SciELO-México and SciELO-Brasil collections. The HAPI+SciELO project allows us to include many additional journal titles, although with less complete subject information than you’ll get with the HAPI records. Also, technical constraints limit us to including records dating back to 2016.