Module 2, Weeks 2-3 Assignments
Assignment Part 1: "Based on the clinical issue of interest and using keywords related to the clinical issue of interest, search at least 4 different databases in the Walden Library to identify at least 4 relevant peer-reviewed articles related to your clinical issue of interest."
Walden Library recommends:
- Start with the Nursing Research databases at the Walden Library. For some topics, also consider using other Walden program areas, like Business, Information Systems, Education, or Psychology. Try multiple databases as needed.
- Perform a basic search with one of the concepts of your research question. Start broadly and then add more terms to narrow the results.
- use quote marks around a phrase like “cognitive impairment”
Do not select any limiters yet. - Use or between related words, which means any term is acceptable
Example: heart or cardiac or cardiovascular or coronary - Look at results, especially the title and subject words to see related concepts and terms to add to your search.
- Add a second concept in box #2 to focus your search. It helps to keep concepts separate, especially when multiple boxes are provided.
Try adding nursing as a separate concept, particularly if using a more general database.
- Refine your results depending on what you find. Don’t be afraid to try other words or combinations of words to get a sizeable hitlist, then you can apply limits.
- Limits: scroll down in the left column to limit by date (last 5 years) and limit the results to peer-reviewed scholarly journals only in the left column of the results page. It helps to do this after you know you have performed a successful search and identified possibly synonyms and sub-topics. Note: this limit is not available in Google Scholar.
- To retrieve the full text of individual items, click the Find@Walden button and follow the prompts. Sometimes this step takes persistence since we have so many different publishers supplying content to these databases. For help, see How do I get the full text of an article?
- For this assignment, it is not recommended to select systematic reviews. Look for original research articles.
- Ask a Librarian if you need more help!
More Information:
- Short Video: CINAHL Quick Guide 2:36
- How do I limit my search to peer reviewed journals?
- How do I make a PowerPoint Presentation?
- How do I cite using APA?
Assignment Part 2: "analyze the methodologies applied in each of the four peer-reviewed articles."