FGCU Library Services

To find health research articles on a particular topic

Search a database that indexes scholarly journals.

Databases often have search features to focus quickly on scholarly research articles instead of popular magazines and news articles. (Google, Google Scholar and other Internet searches will NOT focus on research studies and will yield too many other hits to consider.)

View a Library Research Guide in your health professions discipline for the best Online Databases.

Suggested databases for health. nursing and medicine: CINAHL with Full Text, ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health, PubMed, and Health & Wellness Resource Center. For health adminstration search these databases: ABI/Inform or Business & Management Practices, as well as PubMed.

Drill down quickly to research studies: Use limits features in the database, such as Limit to peer-reviewed, refereed, or scholarly articles. BUT, every peer-reviewed article is not a report of research. Search terms can be included in a search to sift out research studies.

Specific databases can be acessed with a FGCU ID # from: http://library.fgcu.edu/OnlineResources/esources.htm

* Example for CINAHL. Search on the Advanced search page these terms:

Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin-Dependent (MW) AND Glucose Monitoring (MW) AND Experimental (kw) OR quantitative (kw))

                          and check Limit to: Peer-reviewed and (Note: not every document coded by "research article" is a primary source; some may be discussions of research in general)

      Or, to locate qualitative or naturalistic studies

     Search these terms Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin-Dependent (MW) AND Glucose Monitoring (MW) AND qualitative (Kw)
                           and check Limit to: Peer-reviewed and Research article

* Example for Health & Wellness Resource Center. Search on the Advanced search page ANDing the keword
"study":

Ex.: Gastric bypass AND study (kw) and check the box next to "Refereed publications."

*Example for PubMed, an important scholarly database of medical literature. Search in the top search box for your
               terms ANDed  together

                             and then click the Limit tab to select limits to Human, etc.

                              Also under the Limit tab go to "Type of Article" and choose various research types such as
                                clinical trial, randomized control trial, controlled clinical trial, mulitcenter study, etc.

Ex.: gastric bypass AND weight loss with the limits above. (for experimental studies)

PubMed image

Or, to locate qualitative or naturalistic studies:

Ex.: gastric bypass AND (weight loss OR outcome*) AND qualitative

* Example for ABI/Inform for health administration topics . Search on the Advanced Search and include "study" in the citation or abstract.
             Also, click on More Options and include the classfication code 8320 (the health care industry) in your
              search.

NOTE: These strategies may not be 100% reliable. For example, if the abstract contains a general statement such as "experimental studies have shown that...." the article retrieved may not actually be an experimental study. Searchers also need to scan the abstracts for key components indicating research, such as: Methods or Methodology, Results, and Conclusions or Discussion. Also key phrases in the abstract such as "this study" or "the sample included" are indicators of a research study.

Updated February 11, 2009

for comments or suggestions for this page email:
mhartung@fgcu.edu
M.K. Hartung, M.S.P.H., M.A.L.S.,
Health Professions Librarian

Florida Gulf Coast University

FGCU Library Services