Saybrook Integrative & Functional Nutrition Guide

Some tips when searching in library databases:

Use quotation marks around phrases and search terms to search for the words as a phrase in the exact order you would like. 

If you have too many results:

• Add in additional search terms
• Limit to peer-reviewed journals
• Limit by date
• Limit by subject
• Limit to items with full-text availability

If you have too few results:

• Check spelling and make corrections
• Erase unnecessary search terms
• Try different search terms
• Use the Boolean operator "OR" between search terms
• Remove any limits you may have added in an earlier search

For more information, see the Searching Techniques PowerPoint or visit the Searching Tips and Techniques section on the Find Resources by Type page of the library website.

Evidence-based practice refers to using the best available evidence for decision-making and providing efficient and effective care for patients on a scientific basis. Systematic implementation of EBP can enhance healthcare and improve patient outcomes.

Most health science databases include a search limiter for evidence-based practice or evidence-based medicine. In CINAHL Complete, click the Evidence-Based Practice box or choose Evidence-Based Practice under Special Interest. Both of these options apply the same limits to the search.

The Evidence-Based Practice journal subset is applied to articles from evidence-based practice journals as well as articles about evidence-based practice, research articles (including systematic reviews, clinical trials, meta analyses, qualitative studies), commentaries on research studies (applying practice to research), case studies if they meet the criteria of the use of research and/or evidence-based practice terms.

You can search for evidence-based articles in other databases, too, but non-subject specific databases may not have a designated limiter. One way to search is to search for your topic but then add the term AND "evidence based" with quotation marks to search evidence based as a phrase rather than as independent words. Example: microbiota AND "evidence based":

The term evidence based may also be searched as a Subject term in many databases. Select the field limiter from the dropdown menu after the search word. Here is the same sample search in our multidisciplinary database, Academic Search Ultimate:

Results will include articles categorized by publishers as evidence based, such as evidence-based nursing, evidence-based medicine, etc.

MeSH terms are labels assigned to each article in MEDLINE in order to describe what the article is about. The National Library of Medicine trained indexers look at each new article added to MEDLINE and assign multiple labels which best describe the content of the article. MeSH terms are official words or phrases selected to represent particular biomedical concepts. When labeling an article, indexers select terms only from the official MeSH list. For instance, an article would not be labeled with the term heart attack. Instead indexers would use the official MeSH term, myocardial infarction.

This strict regulation results in more efficient searching. Once you know the correct MeSH term, you do not need to come up with other variants of spelling, trends in terminology, or lay terms. It also allows you to locate articles which are specifically about a topic, rather than just mentioning it in passing. For example, searching for just cancer will receive many irrelevant results because the word can appear in so many different types of articles even outside the subject area. But if you search using the MeSH term neoplasms, you would achieve results that an indexer specifically designated as about cancer.

Some health science databases contain a MeSH thesaurus right within them. Also search for MeSH terms in the National Library of Medicine MeSH database which is free online.