COMM 319 Health Communication
Tips for Searching Databases
Search Term Connectors:
Use AND to find articles that contain both words you enter. AND narrows your search.
Use OR to find articles that contain either word you enter. OR broadens your search.
Use NOT to find articles that exclude words or terms you don't want. NOT narrows your search. (Be careful using NOT, as you can unintentionally exclude articles that would be good for your topic.)
You can also narrow your search by putting a search phrase in quotation marks. For example, searching for "heart attack" will usually give you fewer results than just searching heart attack.
Recommended Databases for Health Research Articles
- PubMed This link opens in a new window
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National Library of Medicine's comprehensive database of citations to medical journal articles, with links to UMass-subscribed full text, 1946-present. PubMed includes all MEDLINE content, plus content from additional journals and books in the life sciences. - Web of Science This link opens in a new window
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Index to articles from peer-reviewed journals in all disciplines.Search by cited reference, topic, author, and more. Arts and Humanities covers 1975-present; Social Sciences 1900-present; and Science 1900-present. - CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
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Current Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete includes indexing back to 1937 of over 5,000 journals as well as full-text of over 1,300 journals, 27 books, 134 evidence-based care sheets, 360 research instruments records, 169 quick lessons and more. - PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
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Published by the American Psychological Association (APA), PsycINFO is the largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed journal literature in psychology, behavioral science and mental health - 2,500 journal titles indexed - 2.8 million records - 1887 to present. - ERIC This link opens in a new window
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Education journal articles (EJ references) and ERIC documents (ED references), 1967-present. EDs before 1997 are requestable using the Microforms Request page and usable in the Microforms Vewing Room in the LC.
- Journal of American College HealthProvides information related to health in institutions of higher education and includes lots of case studies.
*Available 1997-present
Specific Journals to Browse for Scientific Articles about Health
- Journal of American College HealthProvides information related to health in institutions of higher education and includes lots of case studies.
*Available 1997-present - Sociology of Health & Illness"an international journal which publishes sociological articles on all aspects of health, illness, medicine and health care"
Finding Full Text & Interlibrary Loan
When you find an article you want, you can click on the UMass search button to get the full text.
The UMass search button connects to a tool that will find the full text online if it is available in any of the databases UMass has access to.
- It will also search the library catalog to see if the library has it in print.
If an article or book is unavailable at UMass Amherst, you can get it using our Interlibrary Loan service. There will be a link to Request this resource through Interlibrary Loan on the window that opens after you click the UMass search button.
- Here's a screenshot as an example of you might see after clicking the UMass search button.
More about Interlibrary Loan
To log into Interlibrary Loan use your UMass NetID and password (same as what you use for SPIRE and Moodle or Blackboard).
The first time you use Interlibrary Loan, you will be prompted to fill out a profile form, so we know who you are and how to contact you when your item arrives.
- NOTE: In the Delivery Preferences section of the profile form, you must choose a Loan Delivery Method and a Pickup Location. All article requests are delivered electronically, so these options do not apply to articles.
After completing the profile, you should then see a pre-populated article request form. Make sure all the required fields are completed (sometimes they don't all transfer to the form), then submit it and usually in 1-2 business days you'll get an email that your article has arrived! The email will include a link into the Interlibrary Loan system, where your article PDF will be available to print or download.
