Guide to locating health evidence.
Filtering the Literature for Research Studies: "Magnet in a Haystack"
Searching the literature to support evidence-based practice requires the use of filtering strategies. Like a magnet in a haystack, a search strategy helps to systematically apply limits to database search results to sift through the profusion of published literature.
Database limits may include choices for filtering Publication Types (case studies, editorials, news articles, as well as higher levels of evidence such as clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses). Limiting by publication type is one way to ensure that the research retrieved was based on a more rigorous methodology and thus reflects a higher level of evidence.
Date of publication limits can help reduce your set of results, particularly helpful when you have too many results, or you wish to retrieve only the most recent literature.
Age group: Using these limits ensures a standard approach to narrowing your search, (rather than using your own keywords such as "elderly" or "pediatric").
"Peer-reviewed articles," "research," "evidence-based," language, species, and other subsets for topics may be available. Use with care, and be sure to read the description of what they mean, as they may inadvertently apply limits you don't want!
"Full text" or "full text available," limits may appear and you should avoid using these! NYU subscribes to full text in many ways and from multiple vendors and packages. Look for the NYU full text links.
The instructions below depict beginning strategies for limiting by publication type (or methodology) in each selected database.
The InterTASC Information Specialists' Sub-Group Search Filter Resource is a collaborative venture to identify, assess and test search filters designed to retrieve research by study design.
CINAHLPlus Indexes >3,800 journals from the fields of nursing & allied health, with indexing for selected journals back to 1937. Topics covered are related to nursing, PT, health education, social service, healthcare, OT, & related disciplines.
Limit to publication type: Systematic Review (indicates a research process in which a concept is identified and the research which has studied it is analyzed and evaluated. Results are synthesized to present the current state of knowledge regarding the concept. Includes integrated or integrative reviews).
Browse the many Publication types; notice the range from case study or letter (lower levels of evidence) to Systematic Reviews and Clinical Trials (higher levels of evidence).
Using the CINAHL “Evidence-based Practice” limiter includes “Research” articles (including systematic reviews, clinical trials, meta analyses, etc.) as well as articles from evidence-based practice journals, articles about evidence-based practice, and commentaries on research studies (applying practice to research). Use with caution; every result may not be an evidence-based study. More about the evidence-based practice limiter.
High Sensitivity is the broadest search, to include ALL relevant material. It may also include less relevant materials.
High Specificity is the most targeted search to include only the most relevant result set, may miss some relevant materials.
Best Balance retrieves the best balance between Sensitivity and Specificity.
Additional research methodology filters are available in PubMed.
Clinical Queries or Topic-Specific Queries apply preformulated search strategies to topics for clinicians and health services researchers.
Healthy People 2020: Structured Evidence Queries (SEQs) - to retrieve citations to published literature related to Healthy People 2020 topic areas and objectives.
Using the EBM Reviews limit will allow you to ‘OR’ together any of the following limits: Cochrane Topic Reviews, ACP Article Reviews or DARE Article Reviews.
PsycINFO (via Ovid) (1887-present.) Abstracts and citations to the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences, with material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work plus many health-related fields, including all aspects of mental health, nursing, health administration, pharmacology, rehabilitation, and epidemiology.
You may choose to scroll through your retrieved citations and notice the “Methodology” field to see what kind of article you are viewing. Or you may LIMIT your search electronically.
Proquest is a multidisciplinary resource for research on contemporary topics or for the beginning stages of a research project.
Check the Limit boxes as shown to search only scholarly journals or peer-reviewed journals. Leave the box empty to include other sources in your search.
A publication is considered to be Scholarly if it is published for an academic audience by a recognized society with academic goals and missions.
A publication is considered to be Peer-reviewed if it has been assessed by other scholars in the same field for quality of scholarship, relevance to the field, and appropriateness for the journal. Most (but not all) scholarly publications are peer reviewed. Some trade publications and magazine are also peer reviewed.
"Peer reviewed" (or "refereed" journals) are those that subject content to a critical review by other experts in the field prior to accepting a manuscript for publication. Thus, limiting your literature search to the peer-reviewed journals ensures a higher level of scholarship and research methodology. Magazines, trade journals, and newspapers tend to be "non-peer-reviewed," meaning perhaps just the editor or someone who is not an expert in the field has reviewed the content before publishing. How do you know if a journal citation is from a peer-reviewed journal?
You can do a journal title search in Ulrich's Global Serials Directory. The symbol: indicates a journal is "refereed"
You can look for the "Limits" feature in many databases to narrow search results by publication type.