RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE IN NURSING

NRSE 4550 – Evidence-Based

August 2012 Ohio University© Page 1 of 2

Research

Finding Research Articles

1. Which databases should you search? The top four would be CINAHL, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library and
Health Source: /Academic. CINAHL (Current Index to and Allied Health ) contains

citations and abstracts for publications covering nursing and other allied health topics. MEDLINE contains

citations and abstracts covering the field of medicine, nursing and other related health sciences. Both the

CINAHL and MEDLINE databases have links out to full-text articles that the library subscribes to or that are

available for free on the internet. Cochrane Library contains full-text articles (meta-analyses or systematic

reviews), abstracts and citations to articles on evidence-based healthcare. Health Source: /Academic

(via EBSCOhost) is another database you may not. Many full-text articles are available in the database, but you

can not limit to research articles as you can in the previous three databases listed. There are several other

databases that might also be of use e.g., PsycInfo, Sociolog.ical Abstracts, ERIC.

2. How do you find nursing “research” articles? Most of the databases have ways of limiting your search to
articles that are research-based. The exception is the Health Source: /Academic database which does

have research-based articles within the database but you can not limit to just those types of articles. The

Cochrane Library references are all research-based. Refer to the article by Morrisey & DeBourgh (Finding

evidence: Refining literature searching skills for the advanced practice nurse. AACN Clinical Issues, 2001 Nov,

12(4): 560-577 for search tips for different databases. REMEMBER: You need to read the abstract/article to

make sure it’s appropriate and research-based. An article that only reports about research findings is not an

original research article. These are often review articles or news articles.

3. How can you tell if the research is done by a nurse or has been written by a nurse? This question is
actually harder than it seems. The databases do not list the credentials of the authors. The only definitive way

of telling if the article has been written by a nurse, or if a nurse was one of the authors, is to actually look at a

copy of the article. That information is usually included on the first page (but sometimes even then it’s not

listed). There are ways to frame your search to increase the probability that the article is written by a nurse,

e.g., searching for the word “nursing” in the author affiliation field, limiting to a subset of nursing journals,

adding the search terms “nursing process” or “nursing research.”

4. How can you know if the article is applicable to nurses? The best way is to consult with the faculty member
teaching the course so they can discuss this with you. Often you will be looking at different interventions you

could be performing. Keep in mind that if you are looking for research on different therapies that drug

therapies will not likely be applicable (unless you are a Nurse Practitioner then you might be prescribing

medications) but alternative therapies, e.g., education, diet & exercise, might be.

NRSE 4550 – Evidence-Based

August 2012 Ohio University© Page 2 of 2

5. What is a database “thesaurus” and why is it important that I know how to use it? Most databases are
constructed using consistent terminology when it comes to indexing articles by topic. This is sometimes

referred to as a “controlled vocabulary” or thesaurus. The benefit to using a database thesaurus is you can rely

on a defined thesaurus term that will search for all articles on the topic regardless of what words or phrases the

author uses. Keep in mind that not all databases use the same thesaurus terms for the same concepts. For

example, MEDLINE has its own thesaurus called MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) while the CINAHL

database has its own and so on. Many database thesauri are constructed in such a way that you can search on

the broadest term and search all the narrower terms that fall under it. This is called “exploding” a search term.

6. How can you find the most recent (past 5-7 years) worth of articles? When you search most databases the
references you retrieve are typically in reverse chronological order, i.e., you always see the newest articles first.

You can also limit your search right away to only retrieve the last 5-7 years-worth of articles by using the limit

features of each database.

7. How do you combine multiple concepts in a database search to find an article that is looking at a number
of different things? Most databases are constructed so you can use Boolean logic to combine terms. For

example,

 “pneumonia AND nursing interventions” finds articles with both concepts together

 “nursing process OR nursing research” finds articles with either concept

 “adult NOT adolescent” finds articles with adult but not adolescent

Most databases allow you to combine different search sets using the same Boolean logic and using the set #’s.

E.g., (#1 or #3) and #2

8. Where can you find full-text articles to retrieve? You will need to look carefully at references to identify
whether a full-text article is available. Some journals will be available in libraries and you can still get some

copies that way. Consult with the librarian and they can also assist you!

9. Where do you get general help with library research or general questions about the library? The
Reference Desk at Alden Library or check with librarians, library assistants and trained students at the regional

campuses. People at the Reference Desk can help you with basic questions like whether the library owns a

specific book or journal, how to add money to your photocopy/printing account, etc. Librarians can assist you

with subject searching.

10. What if you need extra help with your library research? Contact your faculty member!
Just don’t put your research off to the last minute.