Articles published in journals are probably the most important primary source of information in Nursing. Scholarly articles report on research that has been conducted, while clinical articles report on various aspects of nursing practice. Although a majority of journals in nursing are available only in print, an increasing number are available electronically.  (See Resources for a list of Selected ODU nursing journals.) 

You may find articles in a number of ways: 

• by browsing the tables of contents of known journals.
• by browsing the bibliographies in books on your topic, or browsing the reference list of a journal article that you already have on your topic.
• by browsing or searching in an online journals collection.
• by using a printed periodical index or its electronic equivalent, a database.

The first three methods above will generally yield a number of useful citations and articles. When you need to conduct a truly comprehensive search, however, you will need to use a database.  And, because electronic databases can be complicated, in this lesson you will learn: 

A. What a database is; how to choose and access one 
B. How to conduct a CINAHL search (includes Guided Search) 
C. How to obtain the journal articles you identified in your search