Before you start searching databases, answer the following questions:
What is your Research Question?
What are the key concepts in your question?
Which language(s) do you want to search?
What years do you want to include?
Which databases do you want to search?
For each database you search fill in a search concept table
Blank concept table (Word doc) (PDF) developed by Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Yale University
For each database, record:
Example:
Concept tables for PubMed and PsycINFO for the research question Compare the effectiveness of acupuncture vs. hypnosis for smoking cessation
PUBMED | concept: smoking cessation | concept: hypnosis | concept: acupuncture |
Database Thesaurus Terms |
smoking cessation |
hypnotherapy | acupuncture therapy |
Keywords |
|
hypnosis |
acupuncture |
(“smoking cessation”[Mesh] OR “smoking/prevention and control”[Mesh] OR “smoking/therapy”[Mesh] OR “tobacco use disorder/prevention and control”[Mesh] OR “tobacco use disorder/therapy”[Mesh] OR smoking OR smoker*)
AND
(“hypnotherapy”[Mesh] OR hypnosis OR hypnotherapy)
AND
(“acupuncture therapy”[Mesh] OR acupuncture OR acupressure)
PsycINFO | concept: smoking cessation | concept: hypnosis | concept: acupuncture |
Database Thesaurus Terms |
smoking cessation |
hypnosis autohypnosis |
acupuncture |
Keywords |
|
hypnosis |
acupuncture |
(DE "Smoking Cessation" OR DE "Tobacco Smoking" OR DE "Tobacco Use Disorder" OR smoking OR smoker*)
AND
(DE "Hypnosis" OR DE "Hypnotherapy" OR DE "Autohypnosis" OR hypnosis OR hypnotherapy)
AND
(DE “Acupuncture” OR acupuncture OR acupressure)
Journal article databases
Core:
Speciality:
For additional specialty databases, see:
Grey Literature: beyond journal articles (eg conference proceedings, dissertations, unpublished reports, etc.)