For information on how to effectively use a database, please go to Health Sciences Research: Database Searching. Here you will learn the difference between a basic and advanced search; how to identify key concepts or terms; and database limits.
Omni includes content from the various research databases to which Queen's University Library subscribes but not everything is included. If you are looking for information on a very specific topic, or a topic that is subject specific, it is recommended that you search databases that specialize in that subject area for more thorough results.
A link to database search is available from the library homepage or consult the relevant library research guide to determine the recommended databases in your discipline.
Journal articles are important sources for your research as they contain the most-up-to-date research in a given field and often focus on a particular aspect of a topic.
To locate articles on your topic, use Omni or use a subject index or a database such as the ones recommended on this guide.
Because topics in your course are multi-faceted, research in this area can draw upon a wide variety of disciplines and resources.
CINAHL and Pre-CINAHL: Indexes English-language journals in nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and other allied health fields.
Ovid MEDLINE: Medline (via Ovid) is a database of citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems, allied health, and preclinical sciences. It contains more than 26 million references from over 6.500 worldwide journals.
PubMed: MEDLINE (via PubMed) is a database of citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems, allied health and preclinical sciences.
Sociological Abstracts: Indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.
Multidisciplinary databases index a great number of publications and allow you to search across the disciplines.
They are a good resource to use when you begin your research.
Academic Search Complete: Finds articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, monographs and reports covering a broad spectrum of topics.
Google Scholar: Use to locate articles from a variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles published on the "open" web.
Scholars Portal Journals: Full-text access to articles from scholarly journals.
Web of Science: Includes both scientific and social aspects on various topics.
Gender Studies Database: Provides indexing and abstracts covering the full spectrum of gender-related scholarship. It offers over a million records from scholarly and popular publications, including journals, books, conference papers and theses. Essential subjects include gender inequality, masculinity, post-feminism and gender identity.
Global Health: Information related to human health and communicable diseases.
PAIS: Covers publications on global public policy and social issues.
If the full text of an article is not in the database you are searching, click on the Get it @ Queen's icon and follow the links (please note that not all articles are available online).
There are different types of articles: scholarly, popular or trade. It is important to know the difference so that the sources you use for your assignments are scholarly, not popular.
Scholarly journals are also referred to as "academic," "peer-reviewed," or "refereed" journals. One-way researchers try to ensure the legitimacy of their work is to have it peer reviewed prior to publication. A peer-reviewed or refereed journal is one in which manuscripts submitted by authors are reviewed by experts on the topic before being accepted for publication in the journal.
Consult our guide Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals, to help evaluate and decide which journal articles will be useful for your essay.