LibGuides: Program Evaluation Resources: Conducting a Literature Search

Conducting a Literature Search

Conducting a thorough literature search is a great way to learn about the knowledgebase and knowledge gaps pertaining to any topic area. Program evaluation or outcomes assessment searches can take various approaches: topical, methodological, related to specific interventions, and more. Below you will find recommended databases and some strategies to consider.

Recommended Databases

The following databases are the top recommended resources for medical research. They can also be accessed from the Library's homepage.

PubMed This link opens in a new window
Use PubMed to access more than 25 million citations for biomedical journal articles from the MEDLINE database.
Embase This link opens in a new window
A highly versatile, multipurpose and up-to-date database covering the most important international biomedical literature from 1947 to the present day.
Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Access the Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index and more through the Web of Science Core Collection. Covers multidisciplinary subjects, including the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, and more than 12,000 journals. Also includes citations to conference proceedings.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Covers multidisciplinary research literature and quality web sources. Also provides powerful citation analysis tools for articles.

Supplementary Databases

PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Covers publications in many health-related fields, including psychiatry, nursing, health administration, pharmacology, rehabilitation, and epidemiology.
CINAHL This link opens in a new window
The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature contains information published from 1982 to present on nursing and allied health fields such as dietetics, physical and occupational therapy, medical records, etc.
TRIP Database This link opens in a new window
A clinical search engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care.

Searching Tutorials

The following links provide access to brief videos and tutorials that can assist you with learning to search in the databases:

Basic Searching Techniques for Health Sciences
This 11 minute presentation created by OSU health sciences librarians will get you started developing search strategies in health sciences databases.
CINAHL Help
Developed by Yale University's Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, this 10-video series is excellent for gradually building competency in searching. Please note: the videos will refer to Yale access, but otherwise the ideas are the same.
Intro to CINAHL Searching
This short video tutorial guides you step by step in doing a basic CINAHL database search, finding full-text articles, and locating your search history. **OSU Patrons Only**
PubMed for Nurses
This interactive set of videos developed by the National Library of Medicine is designed specifically for nurses as an introduction to searching for literature in PubMed.
PubMed Online Training
In addition to PubMed for Nurses, the National Library of Medicine also provides numerous brief tutorials on a wide variety of PubMed topics.
Advanced CINAHL Searching
This short video tutorial guides you step by step in searching the CINAHL database. **OSU Patrons Only**
To schedule a consultation with a librarian, please contact Kerry Dhakal at kerry.dhakal@osumc.edu
Searching PubMed @ OSU
This short video tutorial guides you step by step through a basic search in PubMed. **OSU Patrons Only**
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If you would like to schedule a consultation with a librarian, please contact Kerry Dhakal, kerry.dhakal@osumc.edu