Library Resources for Occupational Therapy Research

Accessing CINAHL

CINAHL indexes materials for nursing and allied health topics/research literature. Unlike MedLine, it includes book reviews, government publications, nursing dissertations, conference proceedings, and research instruments, educational software and audiovisual materials.

You can access CINAHL from the Library's Information Resources Page and Resources for the School of Health Professions.

If you access CINAHL from off-campus, you will have to login to the Library proxy server.

Keyword Searching

When searching for articles, you can search by subject or by keyword. When you search a database by keyword, the system looks for the term you've entered as you've entered it. Spelling and context are important. If you misspell a word, you may not find any results. If you use a word in a different context, you may get results that are not useful. If you use a variant of a word different from what most authors use, you may not get the most important articles. The more terms you include, the more likely you are to get results that are useful.

CINAHL defaults to searching by keyword. Enter the term(s) you're looking for an click on the blue button labeled "Search".

Applying Filters

In addition to including multiple terms, you can refine your search by applying filters to your search. 
 

From the Limits screen, you can further refine your search in many ways including the following:

• Full Text: You can retrieve only those articles that are carried full text on CINAHL. This is not recommended as the most important articles on your topic may not be available through CINAHL.
• Publication Date: You can retrieve only those articles written during a certain time period.
• Publication Type: You can retrieve only those articles that are of a particular type .  Examples include reviews, editorials, letters, clinical trials, etc.  
• English Language: You can retrieve only those aricles written/published in English
• Peer Reviewed: You can retrieve only those articles published in peer-reviewed journals
• Age Groups: You can retrieve only those articles about patients/subjects within a specified age bracket
• Human: You can retrieve only those articles about studies conducted only on human subjects
• Sex: You can retrieve only those articles about studies conducted on either male subjects or female subjects or to articles that talk specifically about health issues related to one gender or the other
• Pregnancy: You can retrieve only those articles that deal with patients/subjects during pregnancy
• Inpatients/Outpatients: You can retrieve only those articles that deal with patients/subjects on an inpatient/outpatient basis.
• Randomized Controlled Trials: You can retrieve only those articles that report the results of evidence-based studies.

Select a filter by clicking in the checkbox next to the filters you wish to select and then click on the blue button labeled "Search".

Search Results

Once you've completed all the steps of your search, you're ready to look at your results. CINAHL originally presents your results in short format. To see a detailed record, click on the title of the article you're interested in. 

CINAHL will link out to the publisher's web site to access the full text of an article.  These articles are indicated with a link labeled "Access Now".

Some articles are available directly from CINAHL.  These articles are indicated with a link labeled "Access Now (Full Text Online)" or "Full Text (PDF)".

CINAHL will link out to the publisher's web site to access the full text of an article.  These articles are indicated with a link labeled "Access Now".

Some articles are available directly from CINAHL.  These articles are indicated with a link labeled "Access Now (Full Text Online)" or "Full Text (PDF)".  If CINAHL does not provide full text access, the journal my still be available electronically. Check the Serials Database for access information.

If the article is not available electronically, it may be available in the Library in print format. Check the Serials Database to see if the Library has a subscription to this journal.

If the Library does not have a subscription to the journal (whether in print or electronically), you can still get the article through Interlibrary Loan.