Search Europe PMC for the paper and use its links to available full text, then query Unpaywall with the paper's DOI to find open-access locations, and read the methods and results sections before deciding whether to include it. This sequence moves you from a citation record to readable sections that the abstract does not provide.
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Search Europe PMC by title or identifier. Europe PMC supports keyword and fielded searches across life-science literature and links to available full text. If a full-text link appears, open it and go to step 4.
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Query Unpaywall with the DOI. Unpaywall records describe open-access locations associated with a DOI, including host type, version, license information when available, and a selected best open-access location. Use the selected location first; if it does not load, check the other listed locations, since they may point to different versions or hosts.
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Check CORE for a repository copy. CORE aggregates open-access research outputs and offers discovery services and tools for finding repository copies of scholarly work. Use it when the Europe PMC and Unpaywall routes do not give you a readable copy.
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Read the methods and results before deciding. The methods section tells you whether the study design, sample, and procedures match what your paper needs to cite. The results section shows whether the reported outcomes actually support the relevance you inferred from the abstract. Make the inclusion decision after these two sections, not from the abstract alone.
If no open-access location appears in these sources, the availability question remains unresolved; use the publisher page or your library's access routes as the next check rather than treating the absence as proof that no full text exists.