Northern Health Library: Searching for Information

Research resources

NH Library supports staff and students conducting research with these tools, technologies and services:

• Literature databases
• eJournals and BrowZine
• Book a meeting room - 2 small meeting rooms in the library are available for booking

Research services

• Advice and support on referencing, citation and reference management tools
• Access to research material not available at NH Library via our Article Request service
• Literature Search support - training and follow-up sessions plus drop-In service
• Systematic review support and search strategy services
• Systematic review management software Covidence or Rayyan (free mode)

Are you working on a review?

What kind of review?

• Right Review is an online tool to help you decide what kind of review you should conduct
• Cornell University Library has a convenient flowchart to help you decide what type of review is right for you

Are you working on a systematic review?

A systematic review "attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view aimed at minimizing bias, to produce more reliable findings to inform decision-making" (Cochrane)

Systematic reviews can take several people at least 6 months to complete -- think about assembling a strong review team that includes content/subject experts, a biostatistics expert (especially if you are planning a meta-analysis), and an information expert/librarian (especially if you want a robust literature search to serve as the foundation for the whole review).

For an overview of the process, see the diagram at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-019-00576-5/figures/1 

• Source: Muka, T., Glisic, M., Milic, J., Verhoog, S., Bohlius, J., Bramer, W., Chowdhury, R., & Franco, O. H. (2020). A 24-step guide on how to design, conduct, and successfully publish a systematic review and meta-analysis in medical research. European Journal of Epidemiology, 35(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00576-5

Gold standard guidance/methodology resources

• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
• JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis
• Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Systematic Reviews
• Cochrane-Campbell Handbook for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis

Online learning about conducting systematic reviews

• Cochrane's online learning offers a first module for free: "Introduction to conducting systematic reviews" 
• Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis free at Coursera

Identifying existing systematic reviews and/or protocols

A structured scoping search should be undertaken of major biomedical databases (i.e. Medline, EMBASE) to identify existing SRs and any relevant published SR protocols.

Also check PROSPERO--International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews

You may also like to check resources such as the Open Science Framework, "a free and open-source project management tool that makes it easier to collaborate throughout a project's lifecycle" for SR protocols.

PRISMA basics (for reporting systematic reviews)

• General information about PRISMA and access to flowcharts and checklists
• PRISMA 2020: Common Questions on Tracking Records and the Flow Diagram - new guidelines for systematic review reporting.
• Cochrane Training: PRISMA-S: an extension to the PRISMA Statement for Reporting Literature Searches in Systematic Reviews

How to search 

This informative series created by an experienced medical librarian and expert searcher takes you through a guided process on how to create a great search. Watch the whole series or focus in on the area giving you trouble using the full list below.

Searching School by Carrie Price - the complete series

Part 1: Searching School Introduction (3.24 mins)

Part 2: Translating the Research Question (3.56 mins)

Part 3: Boolean Operators (4.55 mins)

Part 4: Subject Headings (4.02 mins)

Part 5: Keywords (5.43 mins)

Part 6: Spelling, Syntax, Line Numbers (2.19 mins)

Part 7: Limits and Filters (3.46 mins)

Part 8: Translating Across Platforms (2.07 mins)

Part 9: Search Reporting (3.15 mins)

Part 10: Searching School Debrief (0.50 mins)

Learn how to conduct a search in CINAHL by combining subject headings and keywords. Created by the Griffith University Library.

Rigorous searching in CINAHL using subject headings and keywords (4.58 mins)

Which journal should I publish in?

It's not always easy working out which journals to target. We suggest reviewing the impact factors of different journals using:

Journal/Author Name Estimator (JANE) - Find journals which best match the title/abstract of your paper. 

Journal impact factors - contact us to request support in determining journal impact factors. 

Clarivate Manuscript Matcher - got that article ready to go? Manuscript Matcher can suggest which journals might best suit your research paper. Again, you'll need a free Clarivate account to use this service. Contact us if you encounter any issues accessing this.

Scopus Source List - use the Scopus CiteScore to assess the citation impact of journals.

More questions? Ask NH Library here.