Tutorials A-Z

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) is generally the best database to use to find qualitative research articles related to a nursing or allied health topic. CINAHL has in-depth thesaurus terms and filtering tools, which make it easier to limit your results to articles that fit discipline-specific criteria, such as articles written by a nurse or from a nursing journal.

In addition to journal articles, you'll also find evidence-based care sheets, clinical trials, and “quick lessons” - overviews of disease and conditions. Access is limited to 12 simultaneous users.

CINAHL has the familiar search box(es) in which you can enter your search terms. To help you identify the most effective search terms, CINAHL offers a searchable medical subject heading thesaurus located in the banner at the top of the search page. This tool is optional to use.

1. Select CINAHL Subject Headings in the banner at the top of the page.
2. Enter your search term and select Browse.
3. Your results will be a list of medical terms (not articles).
4. Select the boxes next to relevant terms.
5. Select Search Database to find articles about the terms you selected.

Use CINAHL's Advanced Search filters to find specific types of research studies and research conducted primarily by and for nurses. These filters are located on the Advanced Search page under the search boxes. Filters of note:

1. First Author is a Nurse and Any Author is a Nurse
   Helps ensure research is grounded in the nursing discipline.
   
    
2. Evidence-Based Practice

   Applying this limiter allows you to limit results to articles from evidence-based practice journals, articles about evidence-based practice, research articles (including systematic reviews, clinical trials, meta analyses, etc.), and commentaries on research studies (applying practice to research). This is not a comprehensive EBP search; it's just one way to limit your search.
   

3. Publication Type
   Limit your search results to higher levels of evidence.
   
    
4. Publication Date
   Limit your search results to material published more recently.
   
    
5. Geographic Subset or Journal Subset
   Limit your search results to research associated with specific countries or continents. (Beware - this limit removes a lot of relevant results due to many articles not being labeled with geographic tags.)
   
    
6. Exclude Medline Records
   CINAHL emphasizes nursing and allied health disciplines. There is an overlap of coverage between CINAHL and PubMed, a database which includes all general medicine disciplines. You can limit your search to material NOT in PubMed by utilizing the "Exclude Medline Records" option.
   

There are more filters that may be relevant to your needs; take time to review them!

Free full text of CINAHL articles is available through two ways.

1. Immediate access as a PDF or HTML file.

2. Interlibrary Loan request.

CINAHL indexes articles, meaning it tells you what is available but it cannot necessarily link you to the full text due to publisher embargoes. This is common, especially with newer articles. When this happens, request the free full-text of CINAHL articles using the Request this item through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) link. CCC Library will email you the article in 3-10 days.