Database Search Guides

Tutorials for searching PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL for literature and systematic reviews — syntax, controlled vocabulary, filters, and export.

Database Search Guides

A well-designed search starts with picking the right database and using its syntax correctly. These tutorials walk through interface orientation, Boolean logic, controlled vocabulary, filters, and exporting results into your reference manager for each of the major databases used in literature and systematic reviews.

New to search strategy overall? Start with the developing your search strategy guide, then return here to translate your concept into database-specific syntax.

PubMed

Coverage: Biomedical and life sciences literature; over 35 million citations from MEDLINE and other sources.

Best for: Health, medicine, nursing, public health, and biomedical research.

Open the PubMed tutorial →

Scopus

Coverage: Multidisciplinary abstract and citation database covering science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities.

Best for: Interdisciplinary searches, citation tracking, and author-level metrics.

Open the Scopus tutorial →

CINAHL

Coverage: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature; nursing, allied health, biomedicine, and healthcare.

Best for: Nursing research, allied health professions, and health sciences education.

Open the CINAHL tutorial →