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CINAHL Searching

Best practices on searching the CINAHL Complete database.

Search Filter Overview

CINAHL offers readily available search filters in several areas (see below) in the "New Search" page. These correspond to different metadata types on articles, including publication date, the type of article, age of any involved in a study, etc.

CINAHL Database Filtering screenshot

 

Use Limiters to narrow your search, for example (see screenshot below):

  • Publication – Limit search results to records from a specific title.

  • Journal Subset – Choose from blind peer reviewed, behavioral sciences, nursing, etc.

  • Special Interest – Limit to advanced nursing practice, case management, critical care, etc.

  • Publication Type – Limit results to source types such as care plans or systematic review.

  • Age Groups (Advanced) – Limit to Child, 6-12 years; Middle Age, 45-64 years, etc.

These filters may not represent a comprehensive filter for finding certain types of articles.

For example, using the Systematic Review filter will only locate articles tagged with "systematic review" [publication type]. This will not include articles that are described as a systematic review in their title/abstract that have not been properly tagged with the systematic review.

Screenshot of CINAHL Filter Location under refine results

 

The search can be edited as detailed above by clicking the edit button on the search line.

The search can also be edited by clicking the edit button on the search line.