CINAHL
Welcome to the CINAHL Database Information Screen! To find what you are looking for, browse the topics listed below.
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CINAHL
CINAHL, provides indexing for over 1,700 current nursing and allied health
journals and other publications dating back to 1982, and contains over 1,000,000
records. Offering complete coverage of English-language nursing journals and
publications from the National League for Nursing and the American Nurses'
Association, CINAHL covers nursing, biomedicine, health sciences
librarianship, alternative complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied
health disciplines. Examples of titles offered in CINAHL include:
AANA Journal, California Hospitals, Gastroenterology Nursing, Maternal and Child
Health Journal, Paediatric Nursing, Parents, etc. In addition, this
database offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected
conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software,
audiovisuals and book chapters. Full text material includes 60 journals plus
legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research
instruments, clinical trials.
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There are a number of helpful tips and hints you can use to improve your search results. For example, you can use Boolean operators to link terms together; limit the search to a specific title; and /or restrict the search to a particular date range.
Note: Stopwords are commonly used words such as articles, pronouns, and prepositions. These words are not indexed for searching in the database. For example, 'the', 'for', and 'of' are stopwords. When a stopword is used in a query, any single word or no word is retrieved in place of the stopword. When searching strings that contain stopwords or a Boolean operator, it is necessary to use quotation marks.
Sometimes a search can be overly general (results equal too many hits) or overly specific (results equal too few hits). To fine tune your search, you can use AND, OR, and NOT operators to link your search words together. These operators will help you narrow or broaden your search to better express the terms you are looking for and to retrieve the exact information you need quickly.
USING THE "AND" OPERATOR: If you have a search term that is too general, you can append several terms together using "AND". By stringing key terms together, you can further define your search and reduce the number of results. Note: Unless you define a specific search field, the result list will contain references where all your search terms are located in either the citation, full display or full text.
For example, type high risk AND injury to find only articles that reference high risk injuries.
USING THE "OR" OPERATOR: In order to broaden a search, you can link terms together by using the "OR" operator. By using "OR" to link your terms together you can find documents on many topics. Linked by this operator, your words are searched simultaneously and independently of each other.
As an example, search high risk AND injury OR trauma to find results that contain either the terms "high risk" and "injury", or the term "trauma".
USING THE "NOT" OPERATOR: In order to narrow a search, you can link words together by using the "NOT" operator. This operator will help you to filter out specific topics you do not wish included as part of your search.
Parentheses also may be used to control a search query. Without parentheses, a search is executed from left to right. Words that you enclose in parentheses are searched first. Why is this important? Parentheses allow you to control and define the way the search will be executed. The left phrase in parentheses is searched first; then based upon those results the second phrase in parentheses is searched.
Generalized Search: heart or lung and blood or oxygen Focused Search: (heart or lung) and (blood or oxygen)
In the first example, the search will retrieve everything on "heart" as well as references to the terms "lung" and "blood", and everything on "oxygen".
In the second example, we have used the parentheses to control our query to only find articles about heart or lung that reference blood or oxygen.
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Using the entry date field (em), you can narrow the search to a specific date. To search the most current articles of the database, the entry date field code is essential. For example,
Type: critical care and em 200012
In the example above, the entry month field will produce only results concerning critical care entered into the database in December 2000. Note: you can use a hyphen to indicate an open-ended date range. Entering a hyphen either before or after an entry month will find results "on or before" or "on or after" the date entered.
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The default fields for unqualified searches consist of the following: Title, Abstract and Subject headings.
The following list will help you locate detailed information using field tags.
Tag Description Example
AA Abstract Available AA Y
[Phrase Indexed] or
Searches for records that contain AA N
an abstract of the document. Values
searches are either "Y" or "N."
AB Abstract AB Hospice
[Word Indexed]
Searches the abstract summary
for keywords.
AF Author Affiliation AF Harvard
[Word Indexed] Medical
Institution of affiliation or
address of the first author.
AG Age Group AG Aged, 80 and Over
[Word Indexed]
Searches for words within the
age groups identified in a
document.
AN Accession Number AN 2000073285
[Phrase Indexed]
The unique number assigned to
each record by CINAHL. These
numbers are searchable and can
be used to locate specific
citations.
AR Author Exact AR Smith C
[Word Indexed]
Searches the exact author name in
last/first name format.
AU Author AU Smith T
[Word Indexed]
Searches personal author names in
the format last name followed by
one or more initials.
BG Bibliography BG Ettinger WH
[Word Indexed]
Searches for words within the title
and/or bibliographic reference
information
CA Corporate Author CA Nursing
[Word Indexed] Society
Name of the corporate author if
the document was not authored by
individuals.
CC Exact Major Subject Heading CC Therapeutic
[Phrase Indexed] Touch
Searches the exact Major Subject
Heading from the Major Subject
Heading field.
CE CE Indicator CE Y
[Phrase Indexed]
Y value searches for CINAHL
Interactive CE.
CF Cochrane Record Flag CF Y
[Phrase Indexed]
Y value searches from
the Cochrane Library.
CH Exact Subject Heading CH Questionnaires
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches for words in the Major
Subject Heading field.
CN Record Content CN Table of Contents
[Word Indexed]
List of features that are part of
the specific record. Some records
contain a searchable list of
features within the record.
abstract
references
description field
full text
table of contents
pdf
CO Contributor CO Brown G
[Word Indexed]
Lists individuals who contributed
to a work, but who are not
principal authors. Searches
article in the format last name
followed by one or more initials.
CR Commentary CR Wardrope
[Word Indexed]
Citations for published comments or
responses to this article.
CT Check Tag CT Adolescence
[Phrase Indexed]
CINAHL subject headings that specify
particular aspects such as age groups
and gender; values consist of the
following:
Age Related -
Fetus
Infant, Newborn
Infant
Child, Preschool
Child
Adolescence
Adult
Middle Age
Aged
Aged, 80 and Over
Gender -
Male
Female
Note: When searching the descriptive
text of a check tag, it is necessary to
use quotation marks if the description
contains a Boolean operator (AND, OR,
NOT), e.g. CT "Aged, 80 and Over".
CW Core Heading Word CW color therapy
[Word Indexed]
See MJ: Word in Major Subject Heading
DE Subjects [exact] DE Dairy Products
[Phrase]
Searches the exact subject
headings which describe
the focus of the document.
DF Description Field DF website
[Word Indexed]
May contain information about the
publication or describe a protocol or
standard.
DN Dissertation Number DN PB2003-103289
[Word Indexed]
Searches the exact Dissertation
Order Number.
DT Date of Publication DT 20001012
[Numeric Indexed]
Searches the date of publication in
YYMM, YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD format.
See also the 'PD' tag.
ED Editor ED Moore K
[Word Indexed]
Searches editor names in the format
last name followed by one or more
initials.
EM Entry Date EM 20000401
[Numeric Indexed]
Date of entry of an article into
the CINAHL database in YYYYMM or
YYYYMMDD format.
FM Full Text Indicator FM T
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches for full text. Value
of 'T' retrieves HTML full text.
FR References Available FR Y
[Phrase Indexed]
Performs an exact search for the value
"Y" indicating that an article contains
references.
FT Full Text flag FT Y
[Phrase Indexed]
Y value searches for items which
contain the full text of an article
in either PDF or ASCII format.
GI Grant Information GI Red Cross
[Word Indexed]
Searches funding information including
the institution(s), and grant number if
available.
IB ISBN IB 0-323-00996-4
[Phrase Indexed] or
Searches the exact International IB 0323009964
Standard Book Number; can be
searched with or without the dash.
IN Instrumentation IN depression
[Word Indexed] scale
Searches words in the Instrumentation
field which includes statistical
instruments discussed in an article.
IP Issue/Part IP 5
[Word Indexed]
Searches the Issue/Part/Supplement
of a serial publication.
IS ISSN IS 0028-4793
[Phrase Indexed] or
Searches the exact International IS 00284793
Standard Serial Number; can be
searched with or without the dash.
IT Supplement Title IT The Life
[Word Indexed] You Save...
Searches words in a Title of
supplementary issue.
JN Journal Title JN Academic
[Phrase Indexed] Nurse
Searches either abbreviation or
full title.
JT Journal Title Abbreviation JT Acad Nurse
[Word Indexed]
Searches words in the journal title
abbreviation.
LA Language LA French
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches the language of publication
of an article; values consist of the
following:
Afrikaans
Chinese
English
Finnish
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Norwegian
Portuguese
Spanish
Swedish
LE Legal LE Roe
[Word Indexed]
Searches for legal cases found
in indexed materials. This field
can lists the names of the parties,
court case number, and possibly
the place, name of the court, and
the year.
MH CINAHL Exact Subject Headings MH arm/su
[Phrase Indexed] or
Searches the exact CINAHL subject MH arm--surgery*
heading; searches both major
and minor headings. May use
qualifier abbreviations (also
captures tertiary headings) or
spelled with formatted dashes
(truncate to capture items with
tertiary headings).
MJ CINAHL Word in Major Subject Headings MJ resistance
[Word Indexed] or
Searches words in the major subject MJ "EI"
headings or core concepts, including
subheading words or two letter subheading
codes
MM CINAHL Exact Major Subject Headings MM Drug Resistance/EV
[Phrase Indexed] or
Searches the exact CINAHL subject MM Drug
heading as major concept of the Resistance--evaluation
article. May use qualifier
abbreviations (also captures tertiary
headings) or spelled with formatted
dashes (truncate to capture items with
tertiary headings).
MW CINAHL Heading Word MW infections
[Word Indexed] or
Searches words in a CINAHL Subject MW "EV"
Heading; searches Major Headings,
Minor Headings, and Keywords (Terms
in Process), including subheading words
or two letter subheading
codes
NM Name NM Andersen GD
[Word Indexed]
Searches words in the Author, Corporate
Author, Named Person, Contributor, or
Editor fields.
NP Named Person NP Curie M
[Word Indexed]
Searches biography names for a person
discussed in the source document in
the format last name followed by one
or more initials.
NT Notes NT ADM
[Word Indexed]
Performs a keyword search for words
within the notes and conference
notes fields.
OS Original Study OS Fiore LD,
[Word Indexed] Ezekowitz MD
Searches for words within the Original
Study information, which may include
author, title, and source. Accession
numbers may be included to reference
original articles.
PB Publisher PB Saunders
[Word Indexed]
Searches words in the Publisher field.
PD Publication Date PD 2000 Mar
[Word Indexed] or
Searches the date as published in PD 2000 Jul 31
text format, i.e., month or season. or
See also the 'DT' tag. PD 2000 Fall
PG Number of Pages PG 19
[Word Indexed]
Searches for the total number
of pages.
PM MEDLINE PMID PM 2067948
[Phrase Indexed]
The National Library of Medicine's
PudMED ID is new for 2001 replacing
the UI (was MN search).
PP Pagination PP 12
[Word Indexed] or
Searches first, last, or page range PG 19-23
of an article. See also the 'SP' tag. or
PG 23
PT Publication Type PT biography
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches the exact type of publication,
values consist of the following:
abstract
accreditation
algorithm
anecdote
audiovisual
bibliography
biography
book
book chapter
brief item
care plan
cartoon
case study
CEU
chat groups
classification term
clinical innovations
clinical trial
code of ethics
commentary
commercial website
computer program
consumer/patient teaching materials
corrected article
critical path
diagnostic images
directories
doctoral dissertation
drugs
editorial
equations & formulas
exam questions
forms
games
glossary
historical material
information website
interview
journal article
journal description
legal cases
letter
listservs
masters thesis
nurse practice acts
nursing diagnoses
nursing interventions
obituary
other
overall
pamphlet
pamphlet chapter
pictorial
poetry
practice acts
practice guidelines
proceedings
protocol
Questionnaire/Scale (New in 2003, replaces Questionnaires)
questions and answers
research
research instrument
research term definition
response
review
software
standards
statistics
systematic review
tables/charts
teaching materials
tracings
website
Note: When searching the descriptive
text of a publication type, it is
necessary to use quotation marks if
the description contains a Boolean
operator (AND, OR, NOT), e.g.
PT "Questions and Answers".
PY Year of Publication PY 1977
[Numeric Indexed] or
Searches the publication year of PY 2002-2004
the source document; can be used
in date range searching.
RD Revised Date RD 20010126
[Numeric Indexed]
Searches the last revision date
in YYYYMMDD format.
RF References RF 4
[Word Indexed]
References site at the end of the
article in selected nursing and
allied health journals are included.
RP Report Number RP "1 videocassette (27 min):
[Word Indexed] sound, color, 0.5 inch
Report Number [Item 80484-HAVT]"
RT Reference Text RT Breast
[Word Indexed]
Bibliographic information for
materials cited in the article.
Use quotation marks for exact
title matches.
RV Peer Reviewed RV Y
[Word Indexed]
Performs a search for the value "Y"
indicating that the article is from
a peer-reviewed publication.
RW Review RW Health
[Word Indexed]
Searches for words within the
information in the review
field.
SB Journal Subset SB Biomedical
[Word Indexed]
Searches the journal subset; values
consist of the following:
Africa
Allied Health
Alternative/Complementary Therapies
Asia
Australia & New Zealand
Biomedical
Blind Peer Reviewed
Canada
Computer/Information Science
Consumer Health
Core Nursing
Double Blind Peer Reviewed
Editorial Board Reviewed
Europe
Expert Peer Reviewed
Health Services Administration
Health Promotion/Education
Mexico & Central/South America
Nursing
Online
Online/Print
Peer Reviewed
Public Health
UK & Ireland
USA
** New subset to be added to data:
-Behavioral Sciences
SC Special Interest SC Sports
[Phrase Indexed] Medicine
Searches the special interest current
awareness categories; values consist
of the following:
Advanced Nursing Practice
Case Management
Chiropractic Care
Consumer Health
Critical Care
Dental Care
Emergency Care
Evidence-Based Practice
Gerontologic Care
Home Health Care
Hospice/Palliative Care
Informatics
Men's Health
Military/Uniformed Services
Nursing Administration
Nursing Education
Nursing Language/Classification
Nutrition
Obstetric Care
Occupational Therapy
Oncologic Care
Pain and Pain Management
Patient Safety
Pediatric Care
Perioperative Care
Physical Therapy
Psychiatry/Psychology
Public Health
Quality Assurance
Social Work
Speech-Language Pathology/Audiology
Sports Medicine
Women's Health
Wound Care
Note: When searching the descriptive
text of a special interest category,
it is necessary to use quotation marks
if the description contains a Boolean
operator (AND, OR, NOT), e.g. SC "Pain
and Pain Management".
SE Series Title SE Alcohol Alert
[Word Indexed]
Searches for words within the
Series Title field.
SI Serial Identifier SI SR0070341
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches the exact Serial Identifier
or serial Unique Identifier number
assigned by the NLM.
SO Source SO New Zealand
[Word Indexed]
Searches words in the full journal
title, source publisher name, or
journal title abbreviation.
SP Start Page SP 117
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches the start page of an article.
See also the 'PG' tag.
ST Series Title ST Public Health
[Word Indexed]
Searches words in the series title
for books, pamphlets, and journals.
TC Table of Contents TC Levy
[Word Indexed]
The author, title of item, and
pagination of journal articles or
chapters indexed as part of an overall
record.
TI Article Title TI Impairment
[Word Indexed]
Searches words in the article title.
TX All Text TX Nursing
[Word Indexed]
Searches for keywords in all indexed
fields.
UI Unique Identifier UI 2004117
[Word Indexed]
Searches the exact number assigned
to a MEDLINE citation. (This number
will be removed next year. Prefer
PMID).
VI Volume VI 85
[Phrase Indexed]
Searches for the exact volume number
of a publication.
YR Publication year YR 2002
[Numeric Indexed]
Searches year of publication in YYYY
format. Note: if year is a range,
the first year is searched.
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The following table explains the contents of each field in a CINAHL record's detailed display (not all fields are listed in every record).
Field name Description
Title The title of the article, pamphlet, chapter or book.
Author(s) Personal author(s) name entered in format last name
followed by one or more initials.
Corporate Name(s) of the corporate author(s) if the document
Author(s) was not authored by individuals.
Affiliation(s) Institutional affiliation and geographical location
of the primary author.
Contributor(s) Contributor name(s) in the format of last name
followed by one or more initials.
Editor(s) Editor name(s) in the format of last name followed by
one or more initials.
Source Source information includes the full journal title,
journal title abbreviation, date of publication,
volume/issue, pagination, and number of references
when available.
Series Title The title of the series or collection of work for
books, pamphlets, and journals.
Original Study This may include author(s), title, and source. Accession
numbers may be added to each reference to indicate if
original article is indexed in the database.
Commentary Lists the bibliographic details of articles
commenting on or responding to this article.
Publication Type Identification terms that describe the article type
such as Journal Article, Bibliography, Book, etc.
Language The language of publication of an article.
Major Subjects Major subject headings that describe the content of
an article.
Minor Subjects Minor subject headings that describe the content of
an article; check tags are included in this field
and represent age and population groups.
Keywords Terms in Process which are being considered for
inclusion in the CINAHL Subject Headings Thesaurus.
Abstract An English-language synopsis, or author abstract of
the source document.
CE Module Links to two interactive PDF files containing
information and review material specific to the
course topic. The PDF file may be accessed from
any system that supports Adobe PDF files, but to
use the advanced Adobe JavaScript Object, a user
must have Adobe PDF Reader Version 5.0.
PDF Image Provides a link to the Full Page article visible
through Adobe PDF Reader.
Named Person The named person (biographee) who is the subject of
biographical information, an obituary, or an entire
article.
Journal Subset Subsets of broad journal and pamphlet categories as
specified by CINAHL.
Special Interest Specific categories of special interest which describe
the content of an article.
Legal Case The name(s) of legal cases found in indexed materials.
Instrumentation Statistical research instruments used in research
studies; names of clinical assessment tools may also
appear in this field.
Review Bibliographic information including author, journal,
date, etc. of reviews on the document.
ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for
the book cited in the article.
ISSN The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for
the journal in which an article was published.
MEDLINE Info This field contains information such as the MEDLINE
PMID, NLM Serial ID and NLM UID.
CINAHL Document URL of PDF journals available at the CINAHL website.
Delivery
Direct URL This field contains a permanent link to a CINAHL table
that will forward the user to the specific article site.
Cochrane AN Accession number assigned to the record in Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews.
Document Number Report number or UMI Order number.
Publisher info May include extended source info for non-journal materials.
Publisher name or Source agency, or Legal Case name. May
also contain a publisher URL, a permanent link to a
CINAHL table that will send user to the journal or
publisher homepage.
Literacy Level Indicates the readability level of consumer documents
in full text.
Grant Contains funding information, including the
Information institution(s) and grant number, if any.
Related Websites Websites mentioned in the article; a brief description
of the site may also be listed, for example,
"http://www.webmd.com WebMD".
Note Used in Journal Descriptions records for inactive titles
to note historical details, e.g., for ceased publications,
name changes, etc. Used in book records to give details about
publisher history. Used in journal articles to indicate article
published in multiple journals. May also contain audiovisual and
software details.
Entry Date The issue (year and month) in which a document was
added to the CINAHL database in YYYYMM or YYYYMMDD format.
Revised Date Indicates the date a record was revised in YYYYMMDD
format.
Accession Number A unique number assigned by CINAHL to identify each
document.
[back to top][Searchable Fields]
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The CINAHL Subject Headings authority file is a controlled vocabulary thesaurus that assists in more effectively searching the CINAHL database. Each bibliographic reference in the database is associated with a set of subject terms that are assigned to describe the content of an article. There are more than 10,600 main subject headings as well as thousands of cross-references that assist in finding the most appropriate subject heading. CINAHL accepts the U.S. National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) as the standard vocabulary for disease, drug, anatomical, and physiological concepts.
CINAHL subject heading terms are arranged in a hierarchy, or "tree structure", that permits searching at various levels of detail from the most general level to more narrow levels to find the most precise terms. The subject headings include indexing annotations, tree numbers, scope notes, entry vocabulary, history notes, and allowable qualifiers. The headings can be exploded to retrieve all references indexed to that term as well as all references indexed to any narrower term(s). Searches can also be limited with specific qualifiers (subheadings) to improve the precision of the search, and limited to major subject headings indicate the main focus of an article. The list is updated annually by subject specialists.
This authority file defaults to an alphabetical listing of subject headings. Browsing the list provides a relevancy ranked list of related descriptors.
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Not all qualifiers (subheadings) are valid with all Subject Headings.
Qualifiers can be searched independently of the Subject Headings by using the appropriate two letter code in the word indexed Mesh search fields (MW and MJ). If you wish to associate subheadings that are not valid with a given Descriptor, you may AND the Descriptor and a Free Floating Subheading.
Ex. MW Bicycles AND MW SU to retrieve surgical treatment of bicycle related injuries.
Be sure to enclose your code in quotes so the system will not try to interpret your code as a search field tag. You may search the expanded text versions of your subheading, but this will also retrieve Descriptors containing those terms.
Abnormalities AB Administration AM Administration and dosage AD Adverse effects AE Analogs and derivatives AA Analysis AN Anatomy and histology AH Antagonists and inhibitors AI Blood BL Blood supply BS Cerebrospinal fluid CF Chemically induced CI Classification CL Complications CO Contraindications CT Deficiency DF Diagnosis DI Diagnostic use DU Diet therapy DH Drug effects DE Drug therapy DT Economics EC Education ED Embryology EM Epidemiology EP Equipment and supplies ES Ethical issues EI Ethnology EH Etiology ET Evaluation EV Familial and genetic FG History HI Immunology IM Injuries IN Innervation IR Legislation and jurisprudence LJ Manpower MA Metabolism ME Methods MT Microbiology MI Mortality MO Nursing NU Organizations OG Pathology PA Pharmacodynamics PD Pharmacokinetics PK Physiology PH Physiopathology PP Poisoning PO Prevention and control PC Prognosis PR Psychosocial factors PF Radiation effects RE Radiography RA Radiotherapy RT Rehabilitation RH Risk factors RF Standards ST Surgery SU Symptoms SS Therapeutic use TU Therapy TH Transmission TM Transplantation TR Trends TD Ultrasonography US Urine UR Utilization UT
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The publication authority file is an alphabetical list of the journal titles included in this database. Any publication found in the product's data will be listed in this authority file. As a result, any exclusive search of a publication in this list is guaranteed to create results.
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Index browsing allows the user to view all values that occur in specified fields in a database, along with corresponding hit counts. Access the index browse feature by clicking the green "Indexes" button on the upper portion of the "Advanced" search screen. Use the drop-down menu to choose an index to browse. Indexes can also be searched using tags. Since browsable indexes are phrase indexed, the exact form and spelling of terms as they appear in the database must be used in conjunction with the tags when entering a search manually. Indexes available for browsing in the CINAHL database are listed below. Tags for all fields included in the index browse feature begin with "Z" (e.g. "ZA" for Author).
ZC Accession Number ZG Age Group ZA Author ZF Author Affiliation ZO Corporate Author ZD Entry Date ZX Gender ZQ Instrumentation ZN ISBN ZI ISSN ZJ Journal Name ZS Journal Subset ZL Language ZK Medline PMID ZP Named Person ZT Publication Type ZB Publisher ZV Record Features ZY Series ZW Specific Interest ZE Subject Heading Major ZU Subjects (All) ZR Year of Publication
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