Research Guides: Nurses of USC: Research Databases

Nursing Focused Research

The Johns Hopkins worksheets and developing a PICO question supply the framework for research and enquiry. You will want to formulate your question in order to develop a search strategy.

PubMed or CINAHL are common starting database for health sciences literature reviews, and for some projects, will provide enough journal articles. (Pubmed or MEDLINE (Ovid) are different interfaces to the same content so searching both is unnecessary.)

BoardVitals This link opens in a new window
Exam Prep for Nursing, Advanced Practice Nursing, Medical, and Dentistry. Use your @usc.edu e-mail address and register as a Nurse/Advance Practice Nurse or Medical Student to gain access.
CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new window
Most comprehensive database of full-text for nursing & allied health journals from 1937 to present. Includes access to scholarly journal articles, dissertations, magazines, pamphlets, evidence-based care sheets, books, and research instruments.
Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) This link opens in a new window
Locate measurement instruments such as surveys, questionnaires, tests, surveys, coding schemes, checklists, rating scales, vignettes, etc. Scope includes medicine, nursing, public health , psychology, social work, communication, sociology, etc.
Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database This link opens in a new window
Evidence-based practice database with a global focus. Find systematic reviews, protocols, recommended practices, evidence summaries, best practice and consumer information sheets, and technical Reports.
MEDLINE (Ovid) This link opens in a new window
Access to MEDLINE database through Ovid. Citations to articles related to clinical and research information in the bio-medical sciences. Coverage ranges from 1946-present.
ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health This link opens in a new window
This database includes journals, video, dissertations, reference books and more.
PubMed@USC This link opens in a new window
PubMed provides access to millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. This version is customized for USC users to find the full-text of articles.

Lippincott Nursing Procedures Skills
This database is available onsite to hospital clinicians. This is not a USC Libraries subscription so others will not have access.

Other Health Sciences Research Journal Databases

Cochrane Library This link opens in a new window
Collection of databases aimed at gathering and summarizing health research.
Embase This link opens in a new window
Embase provides access to over more than 29 million citations for biomedical articles and conference proceedings. This version has been customized for USC users to find the full-text of articles from library holdings.
GIDEON This link opens in a new window
Database for diagnosing infectious diseases. Includes differential diagnosis tool, current information on disease outbreaks, and epidemiological data.
Natural Medicines This link opens in a new window
Evidence-based monographs and clinical summaries for alternative and complementary therapies, including herbs, vitamins, dietary supplements, and integrative therapies. Includes information from Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and other holistic wellness systems.
PEDro: The Physiotherapy Evidence Database This link opens in a new window
This database from the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy (CEBP) at the University of Sydney, Australia, provides access to evidence-based practice physical therapy literature. Most trials have been rated for quality. Includes trial evaluation tutorials.
ProQuest Health Research Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
Health Research Premium Collection serves a wide range of users with a broad collection of journals, evidence-based resources, and full-text dissertations, and includes the top ProQuest health and medical databases: Consumer Health; Health & Medical Collection; Healthcare Administration; MEDLINE®; Nursing & Allied Health; Psychology; Public Health.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Abstract and citation database of scholarly literature in psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes journal articles, books, reports, theses, and dissertations from 1806 to present.
SAGE Research Methods Online and Cases This link opens in a new window
SAGE Research Methods includes books, articles, encyclopedias, videos and actual cases covering social science research design and methods. Covers both quantitative and qualitative methods and the field of nursing.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature in science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Includes bibliometrics tools to track, analyze and visualize research.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary collection of journal articles, conference proceedings, and books. Collection of seven online database: Conference Proceedings Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Index Chemicus, Current Chemical Reactions, and Book Citation Index. Coverage is 1900-present.

No database includes all journals in a subject areas. If you are unable to find relevant materials in PubMed or, your question focuses on specific aspects of health sciences, you may want to use another database in addition to PubMed. See common sources for health sciences-related questions above; review the A-Z list of databases to see more; or ask a librarian.