CAUTION
Do not use the "Free full text" or "Full text" filters. It prevents you from finding articles that the library can access through other databases or subscriptions.
Tips for searching databases:
Compose a search by combining terms.
Example question: Is handwashing effective in reducing hospital acquired infections?
|
BOOLEAN OPERATORS |
EXAMPLE SEARCH | DESCRIPTION OF RESULTS | # of results | |
|
AND (Combine different topics) |
hand?washing AND "hospital infection*" | Results contain both of the terms | fewer results | |
|
OR (combine synonymous terms) |
"cross infection" OR "hospital infection" | Results can contain any of the terms | more results | |
| AND, OR |
("hand disinfection" OR hand?washing) AND ("cross infection" OR "hospital infection" OR "nosocomial infection") |
Results include both topics using any of the terms connected by OR. | fewer results | |
Too Many Results?
Too Few Results?
Also....
Identify the details of your topic in order to compose a PICO question.
|
Questions |
Example Answers |
Search Terms | |
| MeSH* | Keywords** | ||
| Describe the PATIENT/PROBLEM (Ex: illness, condition, age, gender, ethnicity) |
hospital acquired infection | cross infection | nosocomial infection |
| What is the INTERVENTION (Ex: medication, diet, activity, or method) |
handwashing | hand disinfection | hand sanitation |
| Are you making a COMPARISON (Ex: alternate treatment, medication, or method) |
|||
|
What is the intended OUTCOME |
reduced infection | see first box | see first box |
Question (example):Is handwashing effective in reducing hospital acquired infections?
*MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) - set of terms used in biomedical databases to "tag" the subjects contained in articles.
**Keywords - text found in articles or article titles that describe the subject; similar topics; synonyms. (from The University of Texas at Arlington)
Search limiters/filters restrict the number of results so they are more precise, they eliminate articles that do not fit your criteria.
Common search limiters/filters include: Date Published, Language, and Article Type.
Most databases have limiters/filters that reflect the needs of its literature. As health literature databases, CINAHL limiters and PubMed filters include patient information such as Age and Sex.
Many health science research projects will only seek to focus on articles from the past five or so years. Limiting you search based on publication date before finding an article that falls out of this date range is a good habit to form.
CINAHL's limiters are listed under the search bar and the subtitle "Limit Your Results". The most important ones limit the literature to date published, peer-review, and English language.
Look for the filters on the left side of the results page. The most important filters are Publication Dates, Article Types, and patient population.
"Publication Dates" retrieves articles that were published during the years you specify. You can immediately select articles from the last 5 or 10 years. If you click the "Custom Range" link, you can pick any range of years you like.
"Article Types" retrieves entries based on its type of research and its format.
"Sex" and "Ages" filter the patient populations in the literature according to their sex and age range.
NOTE
There are a few other filters available in PubMed like "Species". Click the "Choose Additional Filters" link to see them. Experimenting with filters can drastically change your results.
You have your topic, you've thought about what you want to search and where you'll search... Now it's time to think about how to conduct the search.
For the majority of health sciences searches:
Use a "structured process" to search comprehensively to:
In the example below (from bottom to top, the CINAHL way), notice how a structured process to this search makes the strategy clear and easy to understand.
