Drake Memorial Library - Frequently Asked Questions

A literature review or evidence-based synthesis 

Note: If you don't remember if you've done this before, check out the library module for PRO 306.

The Basic Process

1. Go to the Evidence Based Practice Research Guide
2. Review Logan's Guide to PICO(T) searching 
3. Break your own question into PICO format
   • Population
   • Intervention
   • Comparison
   • Outcome
4. Choose the first place you'll search
   • CINAHL & MEDLINE for topics that are mostly nursing or medical interventions.
   • PsycINFO for topics that have a behavioral or mental health component.
5. Use your search filters to make sure you're looking at English language, research articles from the last five years.
6. You may need to click the blue button with a flame icon that says "Get Full Text" to see if we have he full text of an item. See the link below for more information.

Evaluating Search Results

1. Start with the title and make sure it sounds like it will work for your topic.
2. Click on the title to read the abstract (#1 below). Next, look at the major subject headings (#2) to get an idea if the article covers your topic.
3. Save the article:
   • Use the Email tool to send it to yourself (#3)
   • Copy and paste the permalink (#4)
   • As a backup, use the cite tool to copy and paste the APA citation (#5)
     • NOTE: You will need to fix the citation! The capitalization will probably be wrong.

Locating Full Text

Sometimes you will need to track down the full text.

1. If you know the DOI or have a PubMed ID (PMID) use https://libkey.io.
2. You can all install LibKey Nomad into your browser to find/request the full text through SUNY Brockport.
3. See the link below for more information.