LibGuides: Nursing: Journal Articles

Indexes and Databases

Databases and Journal Articles

Use these tools to find citations, abstracts and/or full text materials on your topic. Both scholarly and popular articles are included. If you have an interdisciplinary topic take a look at the other subject research guides that might be useful. i.e. If your topic is children and mental health, check the Psychology guide too. For more information please see the libraries' tutorial on Finding Journal Articles.

CINAHL: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (EBSCO)
CINAHL indexes journal articles, books and book chapters, audiovisuals and educational software, dissertations, conference proceedings and standards of professional practice. Topics include all aspects of nursing, emergency services, health education,health administration, consumer health and alternative therapies. Coverage is from 1982 - present. A tutorial on searching in CINAHL is available.
Nursing and Allied Health Source (Proquest)
Find complete, full-text information from leading nursing and related publications. It covers a wide range of topics including general nursing, obstetrics, geriatric care, oncology, and more. Titles in ProQuest Nursing Journals have been editorially selected because they are substantially indexed in The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Coverage varies but the range is from 1968 to the present.
Medline (Ovid)
Medline is produced by the National Library of Medicine, and includes material from the International Nursing Index. It covers the broad field of biomedicine, and includes toxicology, nursing, nutrition, pharmacology, medicine, dentistry, psychiatry, medical engineering and pathology. Coverage is from 1966 - present.
Medline (PubMed)
PubMed is a biomedical search system designed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine. The subject scope of MEDLINE is biomedicine and health, and includes a significant collection of nursing and allied health journals. The majority of the publications covered in MEDLINE are scholarly. Coverage is from 1966 - present.
Embase (OVID)
Embase is a biomedical and pharmacological database that is particularly strong in its coverage of drug and pharmaceutical research, pharmacology and toxicology. It is particularly useful for students and faculty members conducting systematic research projects.
Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence Based Practice Database (OVID)
The complete evidence-based practice content set from the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) includes:Best Practice Information Sheets; Consumer Information Sheets; Evidence Summaries; Recommended Practices; Systematic Review Protocols; Systematic Reviews;Technical Reports
Evidence Based Medicine Reviews (OVID): Cochrane DSR, ACP Journal Club, DARE and CCTR
Public Health Database
Starting point for public health information and research.

Global Health This link opens in a new window
Covers international medical and health research not captured by other biomedical databases. Includes 3 million scientific records from 1973 to the present from over 1o0 countries in 50 languages. 40% of material contained in Global Health is unique to the database, from international and grey literature sources to proceedings, theses, electronic-only publications and other hard-to-find sources.

Scopus
Scopus is a comprehensive international database for scientific, medical, technical, and social sciences. It also has a sizeable international collection of nursing journals. It contains approximately 15,000 journal titles from 4,000 publishers, and abstracts going back to 1960. Scopus covers all major peer reviewed STM titles and is integrated with Scirus web search to cover the scientific web.
Web of Science
Web of Science provides bibliographic and citation information in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. It allows you to search for articles by subject, author, journal and author address in addition to citation searching. Coverage is from 1945 - present. See our Guide to Using Web of Science
CAMbase
CAMbase is a virtual search engine that enables the user to locate relevant Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) literature from different sources.
LILACS
LILACS is the index of scientific and technical literature of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bioethics Research Library - Georgetown University
This site gives access to five searchable Ethics databases. Access ethics titles in journal articles, book chapters, bills, laws, court decisions, reports, books, audio-visuals, and news articles relating to bioethics and professional ethics.
Native Health Database
The Native Health Database contains bibliographic information and abstracts of health-related articles, reports, surveys, and other resource documents pertaining to the health and health care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations. The database provides information for the benefit, use, and education of organizations and individuals with an interest in health-related issues, programs, and initiatives regarding North American indigenous peoples.
The REHABDATA Database - National Rehabilitation Information Centre (NARIC)
The REHABDATA Database. REHABDATA, produced by the National Rehabilitation Information Center, is the leading literature database on disability and rehabilitation. The database describes over 65,000 documents covering physical, mental, and psychiatric disabilities, independent living, vocational rehabilitation, special education, assistive technology, law, employment, and other issues as they relate to people with disabilities.
Toxicology and Environmental Health (NLM Specialized Information Services)
The Specialized Information Services (SIS) Division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is responsible for information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and specialized topics in minority health.
PsycINFO via ProQuest
Indexes journal articles, dissertations, reports, books, book chapters, and other scholarly documents. The definitive resource in psychology, it indexes literature from over 45 countries in more than 30 languages. Coverage is from 1872 - present. Please see the Guide to Using PsycINFO for more information.

PsycINFO via Ovid This link opens in a new window
Indexes journal articles, dissertations, reports, books, book chapters, and other scholarly documents. The definitive resource in psychology, it indexes literature from over 45 countries in more than 30 languages. Coverage is from 1872 - present. Please see APA’s PsycINFO Guide for more information.

Sociological Abstracts
Sociological Abstracts provides access to a wide array of health-related research, both theoretical and applied. More than 70,000 journal articles listed in this database explore health from a sociological perspective. Coverage of research in health care services, health policy, public health, health insurance, health behaviour, and health education is extensive; coverage of Canadian-specific health research is selective.
ERIC
This database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to education-related literature. ERIC provides coverage of journal articles, conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs.

Search Tips

When searching online, various words are used to help broaden or narrow your search. Here are a few tips you should know before searching any academic database:

Boolean operators: Most internet and electronic databases follow the rules of boolean logic. Boolean logic refers to the relationships (connections or differences) between different search terms. The most common boolean operators are:

AND - used to narrow a search and establish more relevant results by linking keywords together (e.g. "behavioural" and "psychology").

OR - broadens a search and get more results. Typically used for synonyms and words with variant spellings (e.g. "self-actualization" and "self-identity").

NOT - use to narrow a search and get more relevant results (e.g. "behaviouralism" not "humanism").

Truncation: used to find similar words with different endings

e.g. human* searches "human and humans"

e.g. educat* searches "education", "educate", "educational" etc

asterisk (*) searches for various different endings of a word in most databases (including York University), however LexisNexis uses an exlamation mark (!).

Other Tips

Advanced Search - this option is available on most databases, and allows you to specialize your search based on documents (books, articles, video etc), date, geographic location, language, etc.

Quotation Marks - using quotation marks will allow you to search for exact phrases. For example, searching "mental impairment" will only retreive searches with both "mental" and "impairment" together in that order.

Refine Search - many online databases allow you to specify your search criteria after selecting your keywords and clicking on search.

Finding a Specific Journal - if you know the name of the journal you are looking for, type it in the library catalogue, then select "Periodical Title", then hit "go".