Get Started Searching CINAHL

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Welcome!

This Tutorial

This tutorial will guide you through searching in CINAHL, the world's most comprehensive database of full-text nursing and allied health journals.

You'll practice:

  • developing keywords on your topic
  • combining keywords to get more focused results
  • narrowing down your results to the most relevant articles 
     
Underlined Words

Clicking on an underlined word or phrase will give you a definition or in-depth explanation.


How to Navigate 

Use the arrows below to navigate through the tutorial.

Keep in Mind...
There are a few important things you should know about library research before we get started.
 

Research Takes Time

Searching the literature is a process, not a quick task. Sometimes it will take a while to find the articles that are most relevant for your research assignment.

Be prepared to spend some time searching, and try not to get discouraged if you don't find anything relevant right away.
 

Practice Now to Save Time Later

We're going to practice some strategies that will help you find what you need as efficiently as possible.

If you take the time to try these strategies now, you'll save yourself time and headaches in the long run!
 

Librarians Are Here to Help!

The most important thing to remember from this tutorial is that the library is here to help.

If you aren't sure where to start or you're having trouble, ask the library for help. Don't wait until you're exhausted and frustrated to reach out!

Get started on your research early and reach out to us any time you need a push in the right direction.

Let's get started!

Welcome!

Welcome to the library website!

The URL for the library website is https://www.simmons.edu/library. Bookmark it now!

The library website should be your starting point when you need to find articles for assigned reading or research assignments.

Where to Search

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Where to Search

There are two ways to search for articles using the library website.
 

I. Library Search

One way is to use the Library Search bar in the middle of the page. This bar searches most of the library's resources at once, kind of like a search engine.

The upside is that it searches (almost) everything, so you only have to do one search.

The downside is that you'll probably get a lot of results that have nothing to do with nursing, which can be frustrating.
 

II. Databases

The other way is to use a health sciences database, which allows you to do a more targeted search on your topic.
 

Which One Should I Use?

Both options are fine, and you can try both to see if you have a preference.

In this tutorial, we'll explore the health sciences database CINAHL, but you can use the same strategies in the Library Search if you prefer.

Where to Search

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Getting to CINAHL

We're going to start with CINAHL, the world's most comprehensive database of full-text nursing and allied health journals.

Click on Databases in the purple box.

Click on the All Subjects drop-down menu and select Health Sciences. 

Scroll down and click on CINAHL Complete. 

 

If you are off-campus you'll be asked to enter your Simmons username and password.

You are now in CINAHL!

 

Note: If CINAHL opens in a new window or tab, click here to stay in the tutorial. 

What are you searching for?

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Now that you're in CINAHL...

As a Simmons student, you will have research assignments that ask you to use relevant, high quality sources, including scholarly articles. For example, you might be exploring the following topic:

What are healthcare providers' attitudes toward screening for domestic violence?

What happens when you try searching for that whole statement in the search box?

What are you searching for?

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You'll get much better search results by using keywords, rather than trying to search using your whole question.

Choose a keyword combination that describes the important concepts in the topic:

 

We are interested in learning about health care providers' attitudes toward screening for domestic violence.

 

There are many ways to approach every topic, and you get to decide how to focus your search.

What are you searching for?

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Using Keywords

Click New Search in the menu at the top of your screen. 

First, try searching for:

attitudes healthcare providers domestic violence

in the first CINAHL search box.

Click Search to see your results.


Breaking It Up

Click New Search again.

Now, try typing attitudes in the top search box,

healthcare providers in the second search box,

and domestic violence in the third search box.

Click Search to see your results.

Which search gives you more results?

What are you searching for?

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Expanding Your Search

That's still a small number of search results for such a big topic, so let's try to expand the search.

There is usually more than one word or phrase that can be used to describe a single concept.  You can search for multiple terms at the same time by using the word OR.
 

Adding Synonyms

Let's add some synonyms to our search to see if we can get more results.

Next to attitudes (in the same search bar), try adding or beliefs or perceptions.

Next to healthcare providers, add or nurses.

Next to domestic violence, add or domestic abuse or intimate partner violence.

Does adding synonyms with OR give you more results or fewer results?

What are you searching for?

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Brainstorming Keywords

Sometimes it can be challenging to think of additional keywords to describe a concept. When that happens, look at article abstracts and subject terms to help you come up with more keywords. 

 1. Using the results you already have, explore the first few articles by clicking on their titles.

2. Scroll down until you can see the subjects (major and/or minor) and the abstract.

3. Read through these to identify additional words or phrases that describe your topic.  You might find synonyms to add with OR or new concepts to add on their own line.

A Note about Subject Terms

Databases use a list of "official terms" to tag articles with subjects. 

Sometimes the preferred terms change over time in the real world, but it can often take a long time for subject terms to catch up.

For this reason, you might see some outdated terms used in databases.

Interested in learning more about subject terms? Ask a librarian!

Narrowing Down the Results

If you're looking at the description of a single article, click Result List to go back to the search results page.
 

Narrowing Down the Results

Not every article in the result list is going to be relevant to your topic or assignment.

Luckily, databases have tools called filters (also called limits) that can help you narrow down your results to the most relevant ones.
 

Using Filters

When you add a filter, the results will automatically update.  

Pause after each filter to assess how many results you have and how relevant they are.  If you try to add too many filters at once, you may end up with no results.

Here are some useful filters to start with.  Click on each underlined word to learn more.

Publication Date

Source Types

Subject: Major Heading

1. Adjust the Publication Date to within the last 5 years.

2. Under Source Types, check Academic Journals.

Does adding a filter give you more results or fewer results?

Getting to the Full Text

Once you've found what looks like a relevant article, you'll want to read the whole thing.

Full-text articles are available in a variety of ways:
 

1. PDFs Available in CINAHL

Some articles are available directly in CINAHL.

Click New Search.

Search for the article Caring for women facing domestic violence: Grounded theory by typing or copying and pasting the title into the top search box.

Click the PDF Full Text icon to open the PDF.

Click Result List to go back to the search results page.
 

2. Find Full-Text

If you see a green Find Full-Text button, the article isn't available in CINAHL, but we might have it through a different subscription.

Search for the article General practice clinicians' perspectives on involving and supporting children and adult perpetrators in families experiencing domestic violence and abuse.

Click on the green Find Full-Text button.

This article is available through another subscription, so it will open on a different page.

Sometimes this link will bring you to a journal or publisher's homepage. If this happens, look for a search bar and search for the title of the article. Ask the library for help if you can't get to the article.
 

3. Interlibrary Loan

If we don't have access to the article, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Search for the article Domestic violence survivors and their experiences during the legal process.

Click on the green Find Full-Text button.

If we don't have access to this article through any of our subscriptions, you'll see this Access Options page.

If you wanted to read this article, you could request it by clicking the Request via Interlibrary Loan link.

Database Tools

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Saving Articles for Later

You probably won't search for articles and write your paper in the same sitting, so you'll need a way to save the relevant articles you find to read and reference later.

CINAHL has a few tools that will help you do this easily.
 

Word of Warning

Read the sections below before you use the Add to Folder feature or copy an article's link.

These features do not work the way most people expect them to, and some students have lost hours of work because they didn't understand how these features work. (The library doesn't have any control over these features -- we'd change them if we did!).

Don't put yourself in this position! Please read the following sections carefully to ensure that you can get back to the articles you've saved.

If you prefer, you can also download articles and save them to your computer, Google Drive, etc.
 

Exploring the Tools

Click on the title of any article in CINAHL to see the detailed record page. The tools will be along the right side of this page.

Click here to open a detailed record page if you can't find one.

Click on each underlined word to learn more.

Add to Folder
Print
E-mail
Permalink

Database Tools

2 of 2Citation Resources

It's important to give credit where it's due and cite any information source you use.

The Cite and Export buttons are built into databases to help with this process.

Remember, you are ultimately responsible for making sure this citation is correct.  Don't just trust the database -- confirm it using a citation style handbook or online resource.

Looking Ahead

This tutorial has introduced you to:

  • searching in CINAHL 
  • developing and using keywords
  • exploring some of the features designed to assist your search process

There are many more features and search options than covered here, so definitely keep exploring!

For example, if you're not finding enough relevant articles in CINAHL, you can try searching in another database like Medline or add another kind of keyword like methodology.

Most importantly, there is no wrong way to search, so keep trying new words, filters, and databases.

If you start feeling stuck, contact a librarian!

Certificate

Please enter your name and email address to retrieve a copy of your completed quiz.

You can enter multiple email addresses separated by commas. If you are doing this for a class, you may need to enter your instructor's email address also.

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