Frequently Asked Questions

How do I search a database like CINAHL or Proquest Central?

 

See the Plan your search page of the Information Skills Subject Guide 

If you are not sure what search terms to use in a database you might try ChatGPT or Copilot which are AI Large Language Models. e.g.

Remember to acknowledge this use of AI if your tutor requires this e.g.

If you need to provide more detail for your tutor or you just want to track your own usage of AI for the assignment look at this example of an AIuseTable you can base your own table of AI use on.

Organise your search terms similarly to this example : TemplateForSearchStrategies. 

Navigate to the recommended databases on the Articles/ Databases page of your Subject Guides e.g. Articles/Databases - Nursing - Subject Guide

We will start our database searching in CINAHL Ultimate.

Choose the Advanced Search when you first open CINAHL.

Search tips:

• Use speech marks around any phrases or words you need to appear side-by-side e.g. "maternity care" "obstetric care" "antenatal care"
• Use "or" to broaden your search to any of your selected terms e.g. "maternity care" or "obstetric care" or "antenatal care"
• Think of other words that mean the same as your keyword. These describe one concept of your search strategy.. e.g. experiences or perceptions or attitudes or views
• Only use one concept per line in the search strategy.
• You can just use Zealand or phrase search on "New Zealand" to avoid finding loads of articles just because the word "new" was separately sitting in your search strategy.
• Tick English language to rule out other languages you can't read.
• Tick Peer Reviewed for authoritative articles that have been checked by experts in the subject.
• Tick the appropriate date range. This is commonly the Past 5 years or the Past 10 years to ensure your results up-to-date but check with your tutor if you are unsure.
• Tick Research article if you need primary research with methodologies, findings and recommendations i.e. no systematic reviews or meta analyses or other secondary sources.

Your search strategy may look something like below:

Below is an example of one of the results for my topic and I can :

• Click the PDF Full Text icon to download the article.
• Click Cite to find the APA 7th reference.
• Click Share to email the PDF and APA reference to myself (Highly recommended to keep track of all your articles)

As in CINAHL remember to:

• Choose Advanced search
• Keep similar terms for a concept in the one line
• use speech marks around any key phrases
• tick peer-reviewed if scholarly and authoritative articles are needed
• choose your Publication date if needing up-to-date information

As in CINAHL you can:

• Click on Full text PDF to download the article
• Click on the speech mark icon to get the APA reference
• Click the Email icon to email the APA reference and PDF to yourself (Highly recommended)