- Miami University Libraries
- Subject & Course Guides
- NSG 648
- Finding Articles
NSG 648: Finding Articles
Important Note
Please be sure to review the information on the Before You Search! tab on the left menu before you begin searching in the tools listed on this tab. The Before You Search! tab explains what a "peer reviewed" article is and how to tell when you have found one. It also gives tips for building more effective searches. There are brief videos and tutorials that explain how to choose the best keywords, refine your searches, and evaluate the information you find.
CINAHL and MEDLINE for your Literature Review
You’ll need to enter your Miami Unique ID and password to access these resources from off-campus.
Choose one of these resources:
CINAHL
MEDLINE
At the top of the search page, there is a link that says “Choose Databases.” Click that link to add in other database. This allows you to search both databases at the same time. Add in the other resource listed above by checking the box next to its name in the pop-up window.
Then enter your search terms. You can also search the resources listed above individually, if you would like.
Check the box next to “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals” to get only peer-reviewed articles in your results list.
You can limit the results list to articles published within a specific date range either from the search screen or the results list.
From the search screen, enter the desired date range into the boxes under the "Limit your results" heading and in the "Published Date" section.
In the results list, you can change the dates in the slide rule on the left-hand side of the page.
If you see links that say “PDF Full Text” or “HTML Full Text”, clicking on those will take you to the full text of the article. Then, on the right-hand side of the page, you’ll see options to:
--download/save the article (blue arrow in the screenshot),
--print the article (red arrows in the screenshot),
--email the article to yourself (yellow arrow in the screenshot), and
--get the citation information for the article (green arrow in the screenshot).
After you click the icon to get the citation, you can highlight, copy, and paste the APA-formatted citation into your document. Always be sure to double-check your copied citations, though. Sometimes formatting, such as italics and hanging indents, aren’t correct. Information is typically in the correct order, but good to double-check that as well.
Video Demo
This video made by my colleague Carrie Girton demonstrates the written steps below. Please note that she is starting from the research guide from a different NSG course, so the initial steps will look slightly different from this guide. After clicking the link to the CINAHL database in the box below, the steps are the same.
Module 2: Evidence Based Practice Searching
- Cochrane Library*Requires MU ID and password when using off campus*
The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision making. Cochrane Reviews represent the highest level of evidence on which to base clinical treatment decisions.
- AHRQ ReportsThese reports provide comprehensive, science-based information on common, costly medical conditions and new health care technologies and strategies. The EPCs review all relevant scientific literature on a wide spectrum of clinical and health services topics.
PubMed for your Literature Review
Enter your terms in the search box. On the left side of the results list, you'll have options to limit to articles published within a specific date range, and by type of article (such as randomized controlled trial).
To get to an article, click on the title. Then look in the upper right-hand corner for a section called "Full text links" (the links will vary with each article). If you see links other than the "Find It!" button, then click one of those to get to the full text of the article. If the "Find It!" button is the only option, then click it. It will search all of our other resources to see if we have access to full text.
Here is a detailed tutorial about using PubMed. Open the video in YouTube to see individual chapters and skip to the specific sections that interest you. (Click "Show More" in the video description to see the chapters)