NURS 3220/3230 Health Assessment I and II

Scholarly or peer reviewed articles may also be referred to as academic or research or professional.  Here are a few ways to identify a scholarly article:

• Has more than 5 pages
• Has a works-cited/reference list/bibliography at the end of the article
• May be divided into sections, such as introduction, literature review, methods, analysis, etc.
• Will be written by professionals in a a field, such as nurse researchers or nursing faculty
• May have charts, graphs, or tables
• May contain statistical analysis
• May contain specialized language

Scholarly articles are not:

• Only 1-2 pages
• Letters to the editor
• News stories (like from a news magazine or a newspaper)
• Book reviews

Tips and Tricks for searching:

• Think about your research question = what are your main concepts
• Think about synonyms for your concepts.  Examples:
  • IM injections > intramuscular injections (abbreviations may not search how you think)
  • Tylenol > acetaminophen (you may need to use the generic name for a drug)
  • Bulimia > eating disorders (you may need to think about the broader scope on some topics)
• Don't type your search all in one box.  Put a major concept in each search box. 
• Be prepared to work with your key concepts.  If something doesn't work, try using a synonym

CINAHL is the research database for the fields of nursing and health.  To access CINAHL, you can use the link above OR go to the library homepage, ualr.edu/library, and choose the databases tab.  Remember that you must login with your NetID and password (just like Blackboard).  Why?  Because our subscription is only for current UA Little Rock students and faculty.