This document provides tips for searching medical databases, including using controlled vocabularies, boolean operators, and popular journal article databases. It recommends using quotation marks around search terms and boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT to narrow or broaden results. Controlled vocabularies like MeSH, CINAHL Thesaurus, and PsycINFO Thesaurus can help effectively search databases by describing article subjects. Popular databases mentioned are Cochrane Library, PubMed, CINAHL Plus, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and PsycINFO.

1. MEDICAL DATABASE SEARCH TIPS
CONTROLLED
VOCABULARY
QUOTES
AROUND
TERM(S)
BOOLEAN
OPERATOR
BETTER
SEARCH
RESULTS
AND
 Narrows search results
 Tells the database you
want ALL terms
included in the results.
OR
 Broadens search results
 Tells the database to
allow any of the search
terms to be included in
the results.
NOT
 Narrows search results
 Tells the database to
exclude search terms in
the results.
JOURNAL ARTICLE DATABASES
Cochrane
Library
PubMed
CINAHL
Plus
MEDLINE
Web of
Science
PsycINFO
MeSH TERMS
National Library of Medicine’s
controlled vocabulary of
biomedical terms used to
describe the subject of each
journal article.
CINAHL THESAURUS
CINAHL’s controlled vocabulary
thesaurus that assists in more
effectively searching the
CINAHL database.
PsycINFO THESAURUS
PsycINFO’s controlled
vocabulary is referred to as the
Thesaurus of Psychological
Index Terms.
CONTROLLEDVOCABULARIES
BOOLEANOPERATORS
“Database Search Tips” created by Laura Levy is licensed under CC BY 4.0