Locating the Knowledge Sources in Evidence Based Practice

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Original Editor - User Name

Top Contributors - Wanda van Niekerk and Jess Bell  

This page will provide you with links to the different databases and AI Tools that you can use in your quest to locate the knowledge sources to answer your clinical question. We advise that you watch the two videos in this course to guide you in navigating all these tools.

Introduction

The second step in the evidence based practice model involves finding the knowledge sources. This corresponds to the Acquire component of the 5 A’s. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3792230/

Locating the best evidence that is related to the PICO clinical question can be a challenge. There is a vast amount of information available on the internet but clinicians face challenges such as knowledge about which sources are reliable, Hoffman the time it takes to find the relevant information Hoffman, deciding which information is of high-quality Hoffman and also doubt that a selected resource or search will provide an answer. Viegas Dias C, Jasmins C, Rodrigues D, Heleno B. Clinical questions in primary care: Where to find the answers-a cross-sectional study. PLoS One. 2022 Nov 11;17(11):e0277462.(Hoffman)

Database Searching 101

• Start with a clearly defined clinical question using the PICOT format.
  • Refresh your memory of how to formulate your clinical question here
  • Links to PP pages and course
• Organise your keywords for your search according to the PICOT Table
• Use synonyms, related terms and/or truncation to broaden your search
  • truncation - adding the first part of a keyword usually followed by a asterisk (*) (Note: databases can have different truncation symbols, so check the help service of the database if you are uncertain). This way any variant spelling of the word is searched for example: rehabilit* will find rehabilitate; rehabilitates, rehabilitation; rehabilitated
• Use Boolean logical operators - AND/OR
  • AND - if all the search terms should be present in each article (different concepts and to be more specific)
  • OR - if any of the search terms should be present in each article (same concept)

This video demonstrates how to build a search using the PubMed advanced search builder:

Databases

Choose the database that you want to search in. There are traditional databases and grey literature databases. With some of these databases it is free to run a search, whereas others require a paid membership.

Table 1. Examples of Traditional Databases (with links to their websites)

Free to search
Pubmed via Medline Cochrane Library Sciencedirect PEDro TRIP
Pay to search
Ebscohost Cinahl Scopus Web of Science

Examples of Grey Literature Databases (with links to the websites):

• British Library EthOS
• Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
• ClinicalTrials
• Google Scholar

Databases with Free Articles

• Directory of Open Access Journals
• CORE
• Plos Journals
• Highwire
• ScienceOpen
• arXiv
• CiteSeer
• OpenDOAR
• The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) , Elsevier
• Paperity
• BioMed Central
• JURN
• Dryad
• Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC)  
• Semantic Scholar
• Zenodo
• Digital Library of the Commons
• Computer Science Bibliography
• EconBiz
• Scientific and Technical Information Programme
• Astrophysics Data System

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platforms

• Elicit
• SciSpace
• Semantic Scholar
• Research Rabbit
• Litmaps
• Connected Papers

Platforms with Synthesised, Evidence Based Clinical Information

• UpToDate (paid)
• UpToDate (free)
• Medscape
• StatPearls
• Orthobullets
• Clinical Knowledge Summaries
• Physiopedia

Platforms with Clinical Practice Guidelines

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
• Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (previously National Guidelines Clearinghouse)
• National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health - Clinical Practice Guidelines
• GuidelineCentral
• Guidelines International Network (GIN)
• Canadian Medical Association Infobase: Clinical Practice Guidelines

Platforms with Systematic Reviews

• Cochrane Library

  Remember to use the HELP files in databases to help you with your search strategy.

Where to Find Full Text Papers

Below are suggestions on ways to find full text papers:

• Follow the link on the platform of the database that you searched
• Go straight to the journal or publisher’s website
• University library members – make sure you are logged into the university’s online library
• Google an article's citation details
• E-mail the corresponding author
• Search for author’s websites
• Request paper from author on Research Gate or Academia.edu
• Find out if your university library has the option of inter-library loans

Find a method that works best for you and save the articles that you found and downloaded in a folder. Name them so that you can easily find a specific article that you are looking for.