It’s inefficient to scan through the contents of single journals for purposes of research; instead use databases designed for this very purpose to search across large numbers of articles by topic.
When choosing a database, first think about your topic:
Research (citation) database. A biomedical and pharmaceutical database with over 32 million indexed records and more than 8,500 current, mostly peer-reviewed journals. Over 2,900 journals not offered by MEDLINE and many international titles. In order to save your searches register by clicking the “Register” link in the upper right corner of the screen and use subscription key: bastyr417753.
PubMed Research is an international biomedical citation database created by NCBI, comprises over 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE (the largest component), life science journals, and online books. Log in to create a personal NCBI account and save search strategies. NO LOGIN NECESSARY to access Bastyr content.
For full text options, click a title and then the "Bastyr Check Online" icon.
How do you find the most relevant/recent research on your topic and be reasonably confident you haven’t missed important studies? By creating a systematic way of locating relevant materials, in other words, a search strategy!.
These steps yield a big payoff in terms of searching efficiently and effectively:
1. Focus your topic. Choose something that interests you! Then identify the question you're trying to answer. Example: Does Tai Ji minimize the risk of falls in the elderly?
2. Select keywords and concepts for your topic. List only terms that are crucial to your topic (primarily nouns) and their synonyms: tai chi, tai ji, elderly, older, fall risk, etc.
3. Choose appropriate databases and/or other resources. Review descriptions and select the ones to search based on your topic. For research studies, PubMed and Science Direct are excellent choices.
4. Write out a search query (what you would type in a database search box). Note: Search terms are usually nouns; use caps for connecting terms (as in AND and OR), and put parentheses ( ... ) around OR terms:
(tai ji OR tai chi) AND fall risk AND (elderly OR older)
5. Run your search and evaluate the results. Your first searches should be broad; assess results before adding more specific terms.
6. Revise and rerun your search as necessary. If you have too many hits, set (additional) filters/limits; for too few hits use additional synonyms or broader search terms.
The Bastyr University Library provides print and/or electronic access to all of the journals listed on this page. Check out the information under the links for date coverage and database indexing.
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