Skip to Main Content

Nursing

Research assistance for nursing students.

Find Information

Find Information

Types of Information Sources

When scholars or researchers want to publish their research and findings in a journal, they submit their work to what is called a peer-review process. Their article is sent to other scholars in the same field who analyze it and make sure it is of high quality, relevant, valid, and not just one person's opinion. They then send it back for revisions or approve it for publication. Journal articles may also be called as scholarly articles, peer-reviewed articles, or academic articles.

Why Use a Journal

Characteristics of a Journal
  • Provides scholarly information based on research
  • Information focuses on a narrow and specific area of a topic to provide new research and analysis
  • Information is reviewed by experts to help ensure accuracy
  • Written by experts, scholars, professionals in subject field
  • Adds to a growing understanding of a topic by contributing new ideas
  • Academic or scientific research articles and information
  • Written for scholars and professionals in subject field
  • Longer articles, often including tables, graphs, charts
  • Technical, specialized terminology
  • Documented research with footnotes and bibliographies
  • Reviewed by a panel of peers
  • Published by an association, academic institution, or professional organization

Examples

  • American Journal of Nursing
  • Critical Care Nurse
  • Critical Care Research and Practice
  • Journal for Nurse Practitioners
  • Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing
  • Nursing made incredibly easy!

Magazines publish information about a topic about a week after an event occurs and in most cases do not provide in-depth research. The focus of magazines are usually on general topics and topics of interest to specific groups such as music, sports, exercise, fashion, or home decorating fans. They are generally published weekly or monthly, but could be published semi-monthly or several times a year. 

Why Use a Magazine

Characteristics of a Magazine
  • Provides recent information on a topic
  • Provides information on popular culture
  • Written for a general audience
  • Shorter articles
  • Conversational language
  • Reviewed by an editor
  • Written by staff writers or freelance journalists
  • Published by commercial organizations
  • Typically do not have a list of citations
  • Appearing is eye-catching with a lot of images and advertisements

Examples

  • Nursing Times
  • Arthritis Today
  • Harvard Heart Letter
  • Today's Health

Newspapers report on a topic generally the day after an event occurs. They are generally published daily, but can be published weekly or bi-weekly. They can also focus nationally or locally, including to a particular state or city.  

Why Use a Newspaper

Characteristics of a Newspaper
  • Provides recent information on current events and interests
  • Provides opinions pieces in editorials
  • Written for a general audience
  • Shorter articles
  • Conversational language
  • Reviewed by an editor
  • Written by newspaper staff writers or sometimes wire service writers such as writers from Reuters or the Associated Press
  • Published by commercial organizations
  • Typically do not have a list of citations
  • Includes images and advertisements

Examples

  • New York Times
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Arizona Republic

Trade publications publishes information that is of interest to members of a particular profession or industry such as educators, lawyers, welders, law enforcement, etc. They generally cover recent developments in the field or summarize latest research findings in the field. Trade publications are sometimes referred to as trade journals. 

Why Use a Trade Publication

Characteristics of a Trade Publication
  • Latest trends and techniques in a profession
  • Latest research findings in a profession
  • Shared peer insights and experiences in a profession
  • Written for those who work or are interested in a field
  • Might include a brief list of references
  • Might include advertisement geared towards those in the field
  • Written by practitioners or members of professional organizations in the field
  • Published by a trade association
  • Include industry jargon

Examples

  • Nursing Standard
  • National Nurse
  • Variety
  • Advertising Age

Books are great information resources but are not good if you need the latest information on a topic. It takes about a year (or longer) for a book to get published, so by the time you have the book in your hand, the information in that book is at least a year out of date. 

Reference books

Books

Reference books are helpful for:

  • Helping you refine your topic
  • Getting an overview of a subject
  • Getting background information
  • Learning the vocabulary of that subject
  • Identifying key thinkers in that discipline.
  • Getting facts and statistics
  • Learning definitions
  • Examples: Encyclopedias and dictionaries

Books are helpful for: 

  • Getting stable information on a topic that does not change frequently
  • Receiving a broad look at a subject
  • Learning about the historical perspective on an event
  • Providing a literary analysis of a work

Here are a few samples of print books available.

Places to Find Information

Your college library website is a good place to start! Librarians have gathered lots of resources in one place to make it easier for you to find reliable information. Use the tabs above to learn about where to find sources of information.

View this video to learn where to find and how to use the Library's website:

The library has many sources available to you online in their databases! Databases collect different sources together and organize them so you can find what you need more easily. The Library databases have a variety of sources within them, including popular and scholarly articles, streaming videos, images, and ebooks.

View this video that will show you how to find and choose a database on the Library’s website:

OneSearch: sort of like Google but for the library. OneSearch searches and finds resources in all of the Library databases with just one search. The benefit is you don't have to go through all of the different places to find sources. The disadvantage is it can be a lot to go through, so you will need to be able to refine and limit your results. The search box is located on the Library's homepage under the OneSearch tab.

View this video to learn strategies on searching OneSearch:

Books and ebooks: the library has both physical books and ebooks, whichever you prefer. Use the Library Catalog to find physical books and library databases to find ebooks. 

 

Google with limits. There are ways to use Google more effectively. One is to limit to domain specific websites such as .gov, .edu, or .org to make your Google search more manageable and reliable.

View this video to learn some more Google search tips:

Don't want your online activity tracked? Duckduckgo is a search engine you could use that doesn't track your online activity!

Images: the web is one of the best places to find images, but many of the library’s article databases contain images that are copyright free and include citations. This can be a time saver! It’s important to pay attention to images that are Copyright protected and to give credit and cite any images you use. Below are some useful resources for finding images.

Videos: the library has over 9,000 streaming videos that are educational and can be used as a source for a research assignment or in a presentation. These can primarily be found in databases. Citations are included.

Articles & Databases

To find journal, magazine, or news articles related to nursing, search the following databases.

Use your MEID username and password for access to MCC databases.

 

Basic Search Tips

Unlike Google, library databases can't understand an entire sentence. So you'll need to break your topic down into the most important ideas - the KEYWORDS.

The specifics of your topic will matter when selecting sources, but for searching you only need the most essential components. Use the essential components of your research question or statement as your keywords. 

Example Topic: Is mirror therapy effective for stroke patients with gait disorders?

Keywords: mirror therapy, stroke, gait

Most words have synonyms that mean the same, or very similar, things. For each keyword in your topic, try to come up with at least one synonym. Not all keywords will have synonyms, but many do!
 

Example

Keyword: heart attack    Synonym: myocardial infarction

Keep an Eye Out

Sometimes scholars use terms that you might not be familiar with, or which might mean something very specific within the discipline. While searching, look for unfamiliar terms or words that show up a lot. Try searching for those and see if you find more relevant sources.

Once you have your have chosen the keywords and possible synonyms you are going to use to search with, you can use Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) to build effective search statements. This will help you make sure that you are asking for exactly what you want and getting the best results from your search efforts.

AND is used to combine two or more concepts. Let's say you want to investigate the relationship between use of cell phones and traffic accidents. There are lots of articles on cell phones and lots of articles about traffic accidents.

But when you combine the two concepts with AND – cell phones AND traffic accidents – you narrow or limit your search to only those articles that discuss both. AND narrows the search. Use AND when your search retrieves too many records and you need to limit your search.

AND.png

 

OR is used to combine synonyms or words that are acceptable substitutes for each other. For example, in the search above, I could ask for "traffic accidents" OR "automobile accidents." Either term is equally acceptable to me. When you use OR, you are telling the computer that you will accept either (or both) terms in every document that is retrieved. OR expands your search and you will retrieve more records.

OR.png  

 

NOT is generally used to weed out results that are not relevant. If your search returns a lot of records that are unrelated to your search need, you can refine the search using NOT to eliminate the records you don't want. For example, if you are searching for information on the python (a snake), and you keep getting information on "Monty Python," the British comedy, you could state your search as "python NOT Monty." 

To summarize:

OPERATOR

FUNCTION

RESULTS

AND

use AND to combine two or more concepts 

narrows search; fewer results 

OR

use OR to include synonyms

expands search; more results

NOT

use NOT to exclude unwanted terms

narrows search; fewer results

Most library databases have search tools built in. Try some of these:

  • Subject: Think of subjects as official hashtags. Use them to find sources about that subject.
  • Date Range: Limit your search to sources published between specific years.
  • Peer Reviewed: Limit your search to scholarly journal articles.
  • Full Text: Make sure all of the results are available to read in full.

Look on the left and right of your search results, or for an "advanced search" page to find these tools - and more!