Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 1

How to Find a Peer-Reviewed Nursing Article

Table of Contents About this guide .................................................................................................................................................. 1

Step 1 : Pick a topic ............................................................................................................................................. 2

Step 2 : Get into the CINAHL database ............................................................................................................... 3

Step 3 : Enter relevant search terms .................................................................................................................. 5

Step 4 : Limit your search to peer-reviewed, current articles from nursing journals ........................................ 6

Step 5 : Run the search! ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Step 6 : Choose an Article ................................................................................................................................... 9

Step 7 : Get the APA Citation ............................................................................................................................ 10

And you are done! But if you aren’t… .............................................................................................................. 11

About this guide

This guide will help you to find peer-reviewed nursing journal articles using our best nursing database, CINAHL

(Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature). CINAHL can be accessed through the library website

(http://www.gcc.mass.edu/library/) from on-campus or from off-campus with a GCC library card. It’s also the

database that you’ll likely use in your professional life post-graduation

If you do not have a library card, you can apply online and we will email you your barcode (the number you will need to

access databases off-campus) as soon as we are finished entering your information. Apply for a library card online at

http://www.gcc.mass.edu/library/cards/. You can also apply in person.

For any additional help, please contact a librarian at (413) 775 – 1830 or at reference@gcc.mass.edu.

Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 2

Step 1 : Pick a topic

It is important to know what topic you are interested in and what you want to research before searching.

Sometimes a topic will be assigned to you but other times it will be up to you to decide what to research. If

you don’t have a topic or theme in mind yet, think about what you would like to learn more about – topics this

semester, readings that you found interesting, topics you have personal experience with, etc. You can also

browse nursing journals or books in the library to find inspiration.

The narrower you can make your topic, the easier it will be to research. Researching jaundice, for example, is a

huge job – and you would need to write a book to explain it all! Researching the nurses’ role in caring for

infants with jaundice, however, will give you fewer results and allow you to focus on a specific task while

reading and writing, making the process much easier.

Take a moment to think about what exactly it is that you want to find out before moving on.

Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 3

Step 2 : Get into the CINAHL database

From the library homepage (http://www.gcc.mass.edu/library/), click on the blue databases button.

This will take you to an alphabetical list of databases. Go to “C” and click on “CINHAL Plus with Full Text.”

You can also click or copy this link:

http://ezgc.ez.cwmars.org:3800/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=e

host&defaultdb=rzh

Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 4

If you are on-campus:

You will go directly to the database.

If you are off-campus:

You will need to enter your library barcode number and last name in all capitals.

Please note that your username and password are the same for the library catalog and for using databases off-

campus. Your library card number is the number under the barcode on the back of your card (entered without

spaces between the numbers) and the default password is your last name in all capital letters. If you change

your username or password in the library catalog, it will also be changed for logging in to databases off-

campus.

Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 5

Step 3 : Enter relevant search terms

Once in CINAHL, you will have search boxes in which to enter search terms related to the topic you are

studying. If you are researching the nursing role in the care of jaundiced infants, for example, you could try

entering words or phrases like:

Jaundice

Neonatal Jaundice

Infants

Newborns

Postnatal care

Etc.

Experiment with different combinations of searches and try synonyms for various words—CINAHL will also

suggest other search terms when you start typing. Sometimes one search will work and another will not –

don’t give up if your first try doesn’t produce anything!

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Step 4 : Limit your search to peer-reviewed, current articles from

nursing journals

Scroll down the search page. There are 4 ways to limit your search that will help you get the best results for

your nursing assignments.

Depending on your internet browser of choice (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari), the location of

these options may change from the right column or left column. The pictures below are using Firefox.

Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 7

Full Text

At the very top of the search screen is an option called Full Text. Check this to limit your results to only articles

that you can access immediately, which can save you a lot of frustration. It does take away some results that

you could get with some additional work, though, so if you are not finding anything, try unchecking it. The

library can order articles for you that aren’t immediately available in full text—just ask!

Published Date

Medical information changes quickly and you will be expected to have the most accurate and up-to-date

information, usually items published in the last 5 years. Enter in a year range here to limit to articles published

in the past 5 years.

Peer-Reviewed

Peer-review is a process some journals use to ensure that the information contained in their articles is as

accurate and up-to-date as possible. Many professors, including the nursing faculty, will require that you use

these types of articles because they present some of the highest quality evidence available to students and

nurses. Checking this box will ensure you get only peer-reviewed articles.

Journal Subset

The nursing faculty will ask you to find articles from nursing journals. Scrolling through the list of journal

subsets and highlighting “nursing” will ensure that you get this.

Additionally, you can limit your search by age, sex, country the article was written about, or article special

interest (you could limit to articles about alternative therapies, for example).

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Step 5 : Run the search!

Hit “Search,” either at the top of the screen, next to where we entered our search terms, or at the very

bottom of the screen.

I ran a search:

For articles with keywords “jaundice” and “newborn”

That are peer-reviewed

In nursing journals

In full text

Published in the last five years.

I got 16 results – no need to sort through thousands of results in Google! These are all quality articles, from

respected nursing journals, that fit the criteria of most of your nursing assignments.

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Step 6 : Choose an Article

From the list of results, you can click on the title of an article to get more information. Inside the article entry

you will find an abstract (a one-paragraph summary of what the article is about), as well as the ability to email

or save the article.

To view or print the whole article, you will need to click the full text option on the left hand side of the screen

(sometimes it will say “PDF Full Text” and sometimes “HTML Full Text”).

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Step 7 : Get the APA Citation

Most library databases, including CINAHL, will make citations for you! This can save you time when making a

references page. Make sure to choose APA formatted citations—this is the citation style your professors

require.

If you email yourself an article from CINAHL, the citation will appear in the body of the email (the journal

article will come as an attachment to the email) and can then by copied and pasted into your work. This is

what librarians recommend to help you stay organized and ensure that you don’t have to search to find the

article again if you lose a printed copy. Simply enter your email address and choose APA from the citation

format drop-down.

You can also click “Cite” on the right hand side of the article screen (just below print, email, and save) and

copy and paste directly to your paper.

Finding a peer-reviewed nursing article in CINAHL – July 2017 11

And you are done! But if you aren’t…

Hopefully, by now you have found a peer-reviewed, nursing journal article; printed it or saved it electronically;

and have gotten the citation to use for your paper or presentation.

If you are having any problems using the database or finding an article, please do not hesitate to contact a

librarian. We are available to help in many ways:

By phone, at (413) 775 – 1830

By email, at reference@gcc.mass.edu

By chat, on our library website: http://www.gcc.mass.edu/library/ask/

In person; we are located on the third floor of the Core