Appropriate Databases for a Literature Review
When searching for individual research studies in healthcare, PubMed and CINAHL should be used. Google and Google Scholar are NOT sufficient for doing a good literature search in health care, although you can use Google Scholar to supplement your searches in subject specific databases.
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PubMedPubMed provides free access to the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) premier database – MEDLINE. Content is citations and abstracts from national and international journals covering all aspects of biomedicine including allied health and other fields as they relate to medicine or healthcare.
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CINAHLSearch journal literature related to nursing and the allied health disciplines. Also contains early-release citations for pre-published journal articles.
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APA PsycINFOIndexes psychology literature and related disciplines including psychiatry, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, cognitive science, and linguistics. Includes journals and book chapters. Use Historic PsycINFO to identify literature published as early as the 1920s. Links occur to full-text when available.
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Other subject databases...if relevant (They may be relevant if your question relates to other disciplines such as education or business, etc.)
The Right Tools for the Job - Literature Searching for Evidence-Based Practice
Google Scholar alone is not sufficient for identifying evidence.
Asking the Clinical Question
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Evidence-Based Practice for Nursing: Asking the Clinical QuestionExplains the difference between a background question and a foreground question and also differentiates between the types of clinical questions. From East Carolina University.
Strategies for Effective Searching, Part 1 (length: 4:37)
Strategies for Effective Searching, Part 2 (length: 6:08)
About the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
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Search the Cochrane LibraryWright State University does NOT currently subscribe to the Cochrane Library, so we cannot access current subscription-based content. However, the Cochrane Library is still searchable and PubMed still indexes Cochrane Reviews. Also, many Cochrane Reviews are available as open access. If you need a Cochrane Review that requires a subscription or fee, please contact your subject librarian.
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About Cochrane
Cochrane produced this video explaining its mission and why it is important to healthcare. -
Read about Cochrane's mission.
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Cochrane Library (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews/CDSR) - Keyword Searching Using PICOA video overview of using the advanced search in Cochrane Library for clinical questions using the elements of a PICO question. The sample question has a nursing emphasis. -
Cochrane Library - Clinical TrialsA video overview of the the Cochrane Library's Trials Register search results tab.
CINAHL: Keyword Searching Using PICO (length: 2:43)
CINAHL: Broadening Your Search (length: 3:05)
OPTIONAL - CINAHL - MeSH/Subject Heading Searching from EBSCO Support (length: 3:32)
This video from EBSCO shows how to start searching CINAHL Subject Headings from scratch. It does not use a PICO question example, but you can use the same process to identify subject headings for any of the keyword elements of your PICO(T) question.
Training Course (from the NLM): Using PubMed in Evidence-Based Practice
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Using PubMed in Evidence-Based Practice (NLM Training Course)When conducting research, evidence-based practice is a method for framing clinical questions that will help yield optimal search results. PubMed is a free research tool from the National Library of Medicine®. This course will show you how to use evidence-based practice when searching clinical questions using PubMed®.
Note: To search PubMed®, please use Wright State's link for PubMed rather than the PubMed.gov® URL. This will ensure that you can access WSU and OhioLINK subscriptions to full text articles.
The scenarios used in this tutorial are geared toward nurses, but the tips for how to develop search strategies can transfer to any clinical scenario.
NLM PubMed Interactive Tutorial: Find Articles on a Topic (approximate length: 1:00)
Tutorial credit: U.S. National Library of Medicine
NLM PubMed Interactive Tutorial: PubMed Subject Search: How It Works (approximate length: 4:00)
Tutorial credit: U.S. National Library of Medicine
OPTIONAL - Use MeSH to Build a Better PubMed Query (from NCBI)
This National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) video demonstrates how to build a search from scratch using MeSH. Although it is not a search on a PICO(T) question, the same process can be used to determine if there are relevant Medical Subject Headings for your population, intervention, comparison, and/or outcome.
Mental health-related topics only - Using the Methodology Limiter in PsycINFO on EBSCOHost
Demonstrates ways to limit to specific types of research methodologies in PsycINFO.
Search Outcome - Tracking & Documenting Your Search Results
Ask A Librarian
Questions?
Ask your librarian!
Evidence Evaluation Table - Template and Sample
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Evidence Evaluation Table TemplateCopy and paste from this template to create the columns for your own Evidence Evaluation Table. [Online-only content for “Critical Appraisal of the Evidence: Part I,” by Fineout-Overholt and colleagues in the American Journal
of Nursing, July 2010, p. 47-52] -
Sample Evidence Evaluation Table - CompletedThis is an example of an Evidence Evaluation with all of the elements filled in. [Online-only content for “Critical Appraisal of the Evidence: Part III,” by Fineout-Overholt and colleagues in the American Journal of Nursing,
November 2010, p. 43-51.] -
More EBP Resources for Nursing"How to" links, tutorials, articles, and videos covering all aspects of the process of Evidence-Based Practice.
AJN Series: Evidence-Based Practice: Step by Step
These persistent links allow Wright State University users to access these articles through WSU's subscription to AJN. Note: If off campus, you will be prompted for your campus w number and password before being taken to the article.
This collection of articles was authored by faculty from the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation's Center for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice and published in the American Journal of Nursing (AJN)
APA Style
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Citing Your Sources-APASeveral good sources to help you with APA style. The Purdue OWL is particularly recommended for easy to understand examples.
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Annotated Student Sample APA PaperFrom apastyle.org .