Get Started Searching CINAHL

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 
   

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

1 of 2

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

2 of 2

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 & Scholarly Resources in the purple box.

Click on the Subjects drop-down menu, select Health Sciences, and click Search.

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?

1 of 5

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 are you searching for?

2 of 5

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

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

What are you searching for?

3 of 5

Using Keywords

Click New Search in the menu at the left 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.

What are you searching for?

4 of 5

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.

Click New Search again.

Now, try typing attitudes or beliefs or perceptions in the top search box,

healthcare providers or nurses in the second search box,

and domestic violence or domestic abuse or intimate partner violence in the third search box.

What are you searching for?

5 of 5

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 Results 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.

After you do a search, CINAHL has an All Filters button that opens a Filters Panel with a full range of limiting options. Next to the All Filters button are the Quick Filters Full Text, Peer Reviewed, All Time and Source Type.
 

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.

Use the All Filters button to open the Filters Panel. There 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.

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 Access options, then PDF to open the PDF.

Click the back arrow ← to go back to the search results page.
 

2. Click here for Full Text

If you see a Click here for 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 Click here for Full Text.

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 Click here for Full Text.

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

1 of 3

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 on the next page before you use the Add to Project 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.

Database Tools

2 of 3 

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.

Add to Project

The Add to Project button adds the open article to your Ebsco folder.

You can create temporary folders that will last until you close the browser, but if you want the articles to be there when you return, you need to create an Ebsco account (separate from your Simmons library account) by clicking MyEBSCO in the top right. Each time you return to the database, make sure you're signed in before you start saving articles.

Contact the library if you need help creating an account, signing in, or using Projects.

Share

The Share button allows you to create a persistent link to the record, or email you the information about the article as well as an attachment with the full text (if available).

Download

The Download button allows you to download the full text of an article if it is available. If full text is not available, you will only download metadata (a description of the article) not the full text.

The email will also include a permalink that will bring you back to the article record.

Database Tools

3 of 3Citation Resources

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

The Cite Button will present you with a citation for the article you are looking at in multiple citation styles. Use Copy citation to copy and paste it into a document. Use Export citation to send the article citation to a citation manager program of your choice. You can use a citation manager to generate Reference Lists and organize your article citations into folders that you can access from anywhere. See the Citation Managers guide for more information.

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.

Feedback

What did you think of this tutorial?