CINAHL Complete
CINAHL® Complete is the world's most comprehensive nursing & allied health research database, providing full text for nearly 1,400 journals indexed in CINAHL®. Of those, 953 are not found with full text in any version of Academic Search™, Health Source® or Nursing & Allied Health Collection™. This authoritative file contains full text for many of the most used journals in the CINAHL® index, with no embargo. With full-text coverage dating back to 1937, CINAHL® Complete is the definitive research tool for all areas of nursing and allied health literature.
CINAHL® Complete also provides indexing for more than 5,400 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health. The database contains more than 4.1 million records dating back to 1937. Offering complete coverage of English-language nursing journals and publications from the National League for Nursing and the American Nurses' Association, CINAHL® Complete covers nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. In addition, this database offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals and book chapters. Searchable cited references for nearly 1,500 journals are also included.
There are a number of helpful tips and hints you can use to improve your search results. For example, you can use Boolean operators to link terms together; limit the search to a specific title; and /or restrict the search to a particular date range.
Note: Stop-words are commonly used words such as articles, pronouns, and prepositions. These words are not indexed for searching in the database. For example, 'the,' 'for,' and 'of' are stop-words. When a stop-word is used in a query, any single word or no word is retrieved in place of the stop-word. When searching strings that contain stop-words or a Boolean operator, it is necessary to use quotation marks.
Sometimes a search can be overly general (results equal too many hits) or overly specific (results equal too few hits). To fine tune your search, you can use AND, OR, and NOT operators to link your search words together. These operators will help you narrow or broaden your search to better express the terms you are looking for and to retrieve the exact information you need quickly.
USING THE "AND" OPERATOR: If you have a search term that is too general, you can append several terms together using "AND." By stringing key terms together, you can further define your search and reduce the number of results. Note: Unless you define a specific search field, the result list will contain references where all your search terms are located in either the citation, full display or full text.
• For example, type high risk AND injury to find only articles that reference high risk injuries.
USING THE "OR" OPERATOR: In order to broaden a search, you can link terms together by using the "OR" operator. By using "OR" to link your terms together you can find documents on many topics. Linked by this operator, your words are searched simultaneously and independently of each other.
• As an example, search high risk AND injury OR trauma to find results that contain either the terms "high risk" and "injury," or the term "trauma."
USING THE "NOT" OPERATOR: In order to narrow a search, you can link words together by using the "NOT" operator. This operator will help you to filter out specific topics you do not wish included as part of your search.
Parentheses also may be used to control a search query. Without parentheses, a search is executed from left to right. Words that you enclose in parentheses are searched first. Why is this important? Parentheses allow you to control and define the way the search will be executed. The left phrase in parentheses is searched first; then based upon those results the second phrase in parentheses is searched.
Generalized Search: heart or lung and blood or oxygen Focused Search: (heart or lung) and (blood or oxygen)
In the first example, the search will retrieve everything on "heart" as well as references to the terms "lung" and "blood," and everything on "oxygen."
In the second example, we have used the parentheses to control our query to only find articles about heart or lung that reference blood or oxygen.
Using the entry date field (EM), you can narrow the search to a specific date. To search the most current articles of the database, the entry date field code is essential. For example,
• Type: critical care and EM 201207
In the example above, the entry month field will produce only results concerning critical care entered into the database in July 2012. Note: you can use a hyphen to indicate an open-ended date range. Entering a hyphen either before or after an entry month will find results "on or before" or "on or after" the date entered.
The default fields for unqualified searches consist of the following: Title, Abstract and Subject headings.
The following list will help you locate detailed information using field tags.
| Searchable Tag | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AA | Abstract Available [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the records have an abstract available. |
AA Y |
| AB | Abstract [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search of the abstract summaries. |
AB Hospice |
| AE | Age Group [Exact] [Phrase Indexed] Searches the contents of the age group field. |
AE "Child: 6-12 years" |
| AF | Author Affiliation [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search of the Affiliation field for article's author affiliations. |
AF Harvard Medical |
| AG | Age Group [Word Indexed] Searches for words within the age groups identified in a document. |
AG Aged, 80 and Over |
| AN | Accession Number [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search of the Accession Number field for an article's unique identification number. |
AN 2011599247 |
| AR | Author Phrase [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search of the Authors field for an article's author, in the format of last name, first name, and middle initial if available. |
AR Smith C |
| AU | Author [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search of the Authors field for any authors of an article. |
AU Smith T |
| CA | Corporate Author [Word Indexed] Searches the Corporate Author field for the name of the corporate author if the document was not authored by individuals. |
CA Nursing Society |
| CE | CE Indicator [Phrase Indexed] Y value searches for CINAHL Interactive CE. |
CE Y |
| CF | Cochrane Record Flag [Phrase Indexed] Searches for records from the Cochrane Library. |
CF Y |
| CH | Cochrane AN [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search of the Cochrane AN field for the unique identifier for records in the Cochrane Library. |
CH CD000020 |
| CO | Contributor [Word Indexed] Searches the Contributors field for individuals who contributed to a work, but who are not principal authors. Searches article in the format last name followed by one or more initials. |
CO Sturtevant A |
| CR | Commentary [Word Indexed] Searches the Commentary field for citations for published comments or responses to this article. |
CR Wardrope |
| CT | Check Tag [Phrase Indexed] CINAHL subject headings that specify particular aspects such as gender; values consist of the following: |
CT Female |
| DE | Subject [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search of the heading descriptors listed in the records. |
DE Dairy Products |
| DN | Dissertation Number [Word Indexed] Searches the exact Dissertation Order Number. |
DN PB2003-103289 |
| DS | Description Field [Word Indexed] May contain information about the publication or describe a protocol standard or website. |
DS Substance Abuse |
| DT | Date of Publication [Date Indexed] Performs an exact search for the date of publication of an article into the database in CCYYMMDD format. |
DT 20120901 |
| ED | Editor [Word Indexed] Searches the Editor field for editor names in the format last name followed by one or more initials. |
ED Moore K |
| EM | Entry Date [Date Indexed] Performs an exact search of the Entry Date field for the date of entry of an article into the database in CCYYMMDD format. |
EM 20120629 |
| FM | Format Full Text [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for an article's type of full text. The searchable values and what they indicate are as follows:
|
FM T |
| FR | References Available [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the articles contain references. |
FR Y |
| FT | Full Text Available [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the records have full text available. |
FT Y |
| GI | Grant Information [Word Indexed] Searches the Grant Information field for funding information including the institution(s), and grant number if available. |
GI Red Cross |
| IB | ISBN [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for a publication's International Standard Book Number; can be searched with or without the dash. |
IB 9780023472503 |
| IN | Instrumentation [Word Indexed] Searches words in the Instrumentation field which includes statistical instruments discussed in an article. |
IN depression scale |
| IP | Issue [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for a publication's issue number. |
IP 5 |
| IS | ISSN [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search of the ISSN field for a publication's International Standard Serial Number; can be searched with or without the dash. |
IS 0028-4793 IS 00284793 |
| JN | Publication [Phrase Indexed] Performs a keyword search for the journal name of the article. |
JN Academic Nurse |
| JT | Journal Title Abbreviation [Word Indexed] Searches words in the journal title abbreviation. |
JT Acad Nurse |
| LA | Language [Phrase Indexed] Searches the Language field for the language of publication of an article. |
LA French |
| LE | Legal [Word Indexed] Searches the Legal Case field for legal cases found in indexed materials. This field can list the names of the parties, court case number, and possibly the place, name of court, and the year. |
LE Roe |
| MH | CINAHL Exact Subject Headings [Phrase Indexed] Searches the exact CINAHL Complete subject heading; searches both major and minor headings. May use qualifier abbreviations (also captures tertiary headings) or spelled with formatted dashes (truncate to capture items with tertiary headings). |
MH Arm/SU or MH Arm Surgery |
| MJ | CINAHL Word in Major Subject Headings [Word Indexed] Searches words in the major subject headings or core concepts, including subheading words or two letter subheading codes. |
MJ Resistance or MJ "EV" |
| MM | CINAHL Exact Major Subject Headings [Phrase Indexed] Searches the exact CINAHL Complete subject heading as major concept of an article. May use qualifier abbreviations (also captures tertiary headings) or spelled with formatted dashes (truncate to capture items with tertiary headings). |
MM Drug Resistance/EV or MM Drug Resistance Evaluation |
| MW | CINAHL Heading Word [Word Indexed] Searches words in a CINAHL Complete Subject Heading; searches Major Headings, Minor Headings, and Keywords (Terms in Process), including subheading words or two letter subheading codes. |
MW infections or MW "EV" |
| MX | Exclude MEDLINE PMID [Phrase Indexed] To search for records that excludes or includes the MEDLINE PMID. "Y" excludes the PMID records; "N" selects records with a PMID. |
MX Y or MX N |
| NM | Name [Word Indexed] Searches words in the Author, Corporate Author, Named Person, Contributor, or Editor fields. |
NM Andersen GD |
| NP | Named Person [Word Indexed] Searches biography names in the Named Person field for a person discussed in the source document in the format last name followed by one or more initials. |
NP ADRANVALA TK |
| NT | Notes [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search for words within the Notes and Conference Notes fields. |
NT ADM |
| OS | Original Study [Word Indexed] Searches for words within the Original Study field, which may include author, title, and source. Accession Numbers may be included to reference original articles. |
OS BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION |
| PB | Publisher [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search of the article's publisher information. |
PB Saunders |
| PD | Publication Date [Word Indexed] Searches the date as published in text format, i.e., month or season. See also the 'DT' tag. |
PD 2012 Mar or PD 2012 Jul 31 or PD 2012 Fall |
| PG | Number of Pages [Number Indexed] Searches for the total number of pages. |
PG 19 |
| PM | MEDLINE PMID [Phrase Indexed] The National Library of Medicine's PubMed article identifier (PMID). Available when a CINAHL record has been matched to the same item as a MEDLINE record. |
PM 23026034 |
| PP | Pagination [Word Indexed] Searches first, last, or page range of an article. See also the 'SP' tag. |
PP 12 or PP 19-* or PP 19-23 |
| PT | Publication Type [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for a record's document type. |
PT biography |
| PY | Publication Year [Date Indexed] Performs an exact search for the publication year of the article; can be used in date range searching. |
PY 2009 or PY 2008-2011 |
| RD | Revised Date [Date Indexed] Searches the Revision Date field for the last revision date in CCYYMMDD format. |
RD 20010126 |
| RF | Number of References [Word Indexed] Searches the number of references cited at the end of the article in select nursing and allied health journals. |
RF 4 |
| RP | Report Number [Word Indexed] Searches for the report number. |
RP 03-04-02 |
| RV | Peer-Reviewed [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. "Y" indicates that the articles are peer-reviewed. "N" indicates articles are not peer-reviewed |
RV Y |
| RW | Review [Word Indexed] Searches for words within the information in the Review field. |
RW Health |
| SB | Journal Subset [Word Indexed] Searches the journal subset. Geographic journal subsets are also searched with the SB search tag. |
SB Biomedical or SB Africa |
| SC | Special Interest [Word Indexed] Searches the special interest current awareness categories. |
SC Sports Medicine |
| SE | Series Title [Word Indexed] Searches for words within the Series Title field. |
SE Alcohol Alert |
| SI | Serial Identifier [Phrase Indexed] Searches the exact serial identifier or serial unique identifier number assigned by the NLM. Also known as the NLM UID. |
SI 0431420 |
| SO | Publication Name [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search for the journal name of the article. |
SO New Zealand |
| SP | Start Page [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for an article's starting page number. |
SP 117 |
| ST | Series Title [Phrase Indexed] Searches the Series Title field for the exact series title for books, pamphlets and journals. |
ST Public Health |
| SU | Subject [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search on all the subject fields in the record, including Keywords, Major Subjects and Minor Subjects. |
SU Phlebotomy |
| TC | Table of Contents [Word Indexed] Searches within the table-of-contents for text for author, title of item, references, abstract, and pagination of journal articles or chapters. |
TC Levy |
| TI | Title [Word Indexed] Searches keywords in a record's English and non-English title field. |
TI Impairment |
| TX | All Text [Word Indexed] Performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields. Using the TX field code will cause the search to look for the keyword in the full text as well as the citation record. |
TX Nursing |
| VI | Volume [Phrase Indexed] Performs an exact search for a publication's volume number. |
VI 85 |
| YC | Exclude Pre-CINAHL [Phrase Indexed] A search for YC Y will exclude all Pre-CINAHL content. A search for YC N will search only within Pre-CINAHL content. Note: Advanced Search screen includes a "Search Only Pre-CINAHL" and an "Exclude Pre-CINAHL" checkbox limiters. |
YC Y or YC N |
| YR | Year of Publication [Date Indexed] Performs an exact search for the publication year of the article; can be used in date range searching. |
YR 2012 |
The following table explains the contents of each field in a CINAHL record's detailed display (not all fields are listed in every record).
| Field name | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The title of the article, pamphlet, chapter or book. |
| Author(s) | Personal author(s) name entered in format last name followed by one or more initials. |
| Corporate Author(s) | Name(s) of the corporate author(s) if the document was not authored by individuals. |
| Affiliation(s) | Institutional affiliation and geographical location of the primary author. |
| Contributor(s) | Contributor name(s) in the format of last name followed by one or more initials. |
| Editor(s) | Editor name(s) in the format of last name followed by one or more initials. |
| Source | Source information includes the full journal title, journal title abbreviation, date of publication, volume/issue, pagination, and number of references when available. |
| Series Title | The title of the series or collection of work for books, pamphlets, and journals. |
| Original Study | This may include author(s), title, and source. Accession numbers may be added to each reference to indicate if original article is indexed in the database. |
| Commentary | Lists the bibliographic details of articles commenting on or responding to this article. |
| Publication Type | Identification terms that describe the article type such as Journal Article, Bibliography, Book, etc. |
| Language | The language of publication of an article. |
| Major Subjects | Major subject headings that describe the content of an article. |
| Minor Subjects | Minor subject headings that describe the content of an article; check tags are included in this field and represent age and population groups. |
| Keywords | Terms in Process which are being considered for inclusion in the CINAHL Complete Subject Headings Thesaurus. |
| Abstract | An English-language synopsis, or author abstract of the source document. |
| CE Module | Links to CINAHL Complete server containing information and review material specific to the course topic and the test. |
| PDF Image | Provides a link to the Full Page article visible through Adobe PDF Reader. |
| Search Strategy | Displays the suggested Boolean search strategy, including limiter settings. |
| Named Person | The named person (biographee) who is the subject of biographical information, an obituary, or an entire article. |
| Journal Subset | Subsets of broad journal and pamphlet categories as specified by CINAHL Complete. |
| Special Interest | Specific categories of special interest which describe the content of an article. |
| Legal Case | The name(s) of legal cases found in indexed materials. |
| Instrumentation | Statistical research instruments used in research studies; names of clinical assessment tools may also appear in this field. |
| Review | Bibliographic information including author, journal, date, etc. of reviews on the document. |
| ISBN | The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for the book cited in the article. |
| ISSN | The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for the journal in which an article was published. |
| MEDLINE Info | This field contains information such as the MEDLINE PMID, NLM Serial ID and NLM UID. |
| CINAHL Document Delivery | URL of PDF journals available at the CINAHL Complete website. |
| Direct URL | This field contains a permanent link to a CINAHL Complete table that will forward the user to the specific article site. |
| Cochrane AN | Accession number assigned to the record in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. |
| Document Number | Report number or UMI Order number. |
| Publisher info | May include extended source info for non-journal materials. Publisher name or Source agency, or Legal Case name. May also contain a publisher URL, a permanent link to a CINAHL Complete table that will send user to the journal or publisher homepage. |
| Literacy Level | Indicates the readability level of consumer documents in full text. |
| Grant Information | Contains funding information, including the institution(s) and grant number, if any. |
| Related Websites | Websites mentioned in the article; a brief description of the site may also be listed, for example, "http://www.webmd.com WebMD". |
| Note | Used in Journal Descriptions records for inactive titles to note historical details, e.g., for ceased publications, name changes, etc. Used in book records to give details about publisher history. Used in journal articles to indicate articles published in multiple journals. May also contain audiovisual and software details. |
| Entry Date | The issue (year and month) in which a document was added to the CINAHL Complete database in CCYYMM or CCYYMMDD format. |
| Revised Date | Indicates the date a record was revised in CCYYMMDD format. |
| Accession Number | A unique number assigned by CINAHL Complete to identify each document. |
The CINAHL® Complete Subject Headings authority file is a controlled vocabulary thesaurus that assists in more effectively searching the CINAHL® Complete database. Each bibliographic reference in the database is associated with a set of subject terms that are assigned to describe the content of an article. There are more than 14,000 main subject headings as well as thousands of cross-references that assist in finding the most appropriate subject heading. CINAHL® Complete accepts the U.S. National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) as the standard vocabulary for disease, drug, anatomical, and physiological concepts.
CINAHL® Complete subject-heading terms are arranged in a hierarchy, or "tree structure," that permits searching at various levels of detail from the most general level to more narrow levels to find the most precise terms. The subject headings include indexing annotations, tree numbers, scope notes, entry vocabulary, history notes, and allowable qualifiers. The headings can be exploded to retrieve all references indexed to that term as well as all references indexed to any narrower term(s). Searches can also be limited with specific qualifiers (subheadings) to improve the precision of the search, and limited to major subject headings indicate the main focus of an article. The list is updated annually by subject specialists.
This authority file defaults to an alphabetical listing of subject headings. Browsing the list provides a relevancy ranked list of related descriptors.
Not all qualifiers (subheadings) are valid with all Subject Headings.
Qualifiers can be searched independently of the Subject Headings by using the appropriate two letter code in the word indexed MeSH search fields (MW and MJ). If you wish to associate subheadings that are not valid with a given Descriptor, you may ‘AND’ the Descriptor and a Free Floating Subheading.
Ex. MW Bicycles AND MW “SU” to retrieve surgical treatment of bicycle related injuries.
Not all qualifiers (subheadings) are valid with all Subject Headings.
Qualifiers can be searched independently of the Subject Headings by using the appropriate two letter code in the word indexed MeSH search fields (MW and MJ). If you wish to associate subheadings that are not valid with a given Descriptor, you may ‘AND’ the Descriptor and a Free Floating Subheading.
Ex. MW Bicycles AND MW “SU” to retrieve surgical treatment of bicycle related injuries.
"Be sure to enclose your two-letter code in quotes so the system will not interpret your code as a search field tag (e.g. MW "AB"). You can also search the subheading itself, which is represented by the code (e.g. Abnormalities), but this will also retrieve results with other subject headings that may contain this subheading (e.g. "Abnormalities, Drug Induced")."
Abnormalities AB Administration AM Administration and dosage AD Adverse effects AE Analogs and derivatives AA Analysis AN Anatomy and histology AH Antagonists and inhibitors AI Blood BL Blood supply BS Cerebrospinal fluid CF Chemically induced CI Classification CL Complications CO Contraindications CT Deficiency DF Diagnosis DI Diagnostic use DU Diet therapy DH Drug effects DE Drug therapy DT Economics EC Education ED Embryology EM Epidemiology EP Equipment and supplies ES Ethical issues EI Ethnology EH Etiology ET Evaluation EV Familial and genetic FG History HI Immunology IM Injuries IN Innervation IR Legislation and jurisprudence LJ Manpower MA Metabolism ME Methods MT Microbiology MI Mortality MO Nursing NU Organizations OG Pathology PA Pharmacodynamics PD Pharmacokinetics PK Physiology PH Physiopathology PP Poisoning PO Prevention and control PC Prognosis PR Psychosocial factors PF Radiation effects RE Radiography RA Radiotherapy RT Rehabilitation RH Risk factors RF Standards ST Statistics and Numerical Data SN Supply and Distribution SD Surgery SU Symptoms SS Therapeutic use TU Therapy TH Transmission TM Transplantation TR Trends TD Ultrasonography US Urine UR Utilization UT
The Evidence-based practice journal subset is applied to articles from evidence based practice journals (including Cochrane), as well as articles about evidence based practice, research articles (including systematic reviews, clinical trials, meta analyses, qualitative studies), commentaries on research studies (applying practice to research), case studies if they meet the criteria of the use of research and/or evidence based practice terms.
You can refine your search using specific search strategies designed to narrow your results in five research areas, Therapy, Prognosis, Review, Qualitative, and Causation (Etiology). Three strategies are provided for each area. High Sensitivity - the broadest search to include ALL relevant material. It may include less relevant materials. High Specificity - the most targeted search to include only the most relevant result set, may miss some relevant materials. Best Balance - retrieves the best balance between Sensitivity and Specificity.
Clinical Queries are created in collaboration with the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) at McMaster University, and are designed for clinician use.
The publication authority file is an alphabetical list of the journal titles included in this database. Any publication found in the product's data will be listed in this authority file. As a result, any exclusive search of a publication in this list is guaranteed to create results.
Index browsing allows the user to view all values that occur in specified fields in a database, along with corresponding hit counts. Access the index browse feature by clicking the green "Indexes" button on the upper portion of the "Advanced" search screen. Use the drop-down menu to choose an index to browse. Indexes can also be searched using tags. Since browse-able indexes are phrase indexed, the exact form and spelling of terms as they appear in the database must be used in conjunction with the tags when entering a search manually. Indexes available for browsing in the CINAHL Complete database are listed below. Tags for all fields included in the index browse feature begin with "Z" (e.g. "ZA" for Author).
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| ZC | Accession Number |
| ZG | Age Group |
| ZA | Author |
| ZF | Author Affiliation |
| ZO | Corporate Author |
| ZD | Entry Date |
| ZX | Gender |
| ZZ | Geographic Subset |
| ZQ | Instrumentation |
| ZN | ISBN |
| ZI | ISSN |
| ZS | Journal Subset |
| ZL | Language |
| ZK | Medline PMID |
| ZP | Named Person |
| ZJ | Publication Name |
| ZT | Publication Type |
| ZB | Publisher |
| ZV | Record Features |
| ZY | Series Title |
| ZW | Specific Interest |
| ZU | Subjects (All) |
| ZE | Subjects (Major) |
| ZR | Year of Publication |
Reference browsing allows the user to extend a search beyond the initial result list to records that are cited by an article. These citation records can be accessed through an article's "References" link, or through the References search screen. See online help for a detailed description of this feature.
The CINAHL Complete database is a bibliographic database which indexes more than 5,400 journal titles. It includes original documents. Copyright in the database and these original documents are owned by CINAHL Information Systems. The database is intended solely for the use of the individual patron of the licensing party.
Copyright of the full text of journal articles, author abstracts and most other full text materials is the property of the publisher or copyright holder of the original publication. Text may not be copied without express written permission except for the print or download capabilities of the retrieval software used to access it. This text is intended solely for the use of the individual user.