Watch the above Panopto video from Academic Skills Centre (includes sub-titles) on literature searching using the CINAHL database. See below for summaries of this and other useful databases.
Databases and resources for Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
The following databases are worth noting. Not all will need to be used: for a standard search, 2-3 databases in total should be easily sufficient. However, if the project concerned is a detailed or systematic-style review, then up to 5-6 databases may be needed.
EBSCO databases (EBSCO is the supplier / platform)
- AMED: "Provides an alternative medicine database for physicians, therapists, medical researchers and clinicians looking to learn more about alternative treatments" (FindIt@Bham entry)
- CINAHL Plus: This is the specialist database for anything to do with nursing and allied health care. Sample search in the video above
- SportDiscus. "Provided by the Sport Resource Information Centre, SPORTDiscus offers comprehensive, bibliographic coverage of sport, fitness, and related disciplines" (FindIt entry)
Medline and other key databases
- Medline (Ovid platform): This is the main academic and professional database for any biomedical subjects. The content is equivalent to PubMed
- Pedro: Specialises in physiotherapy. The layout of this database differs from others such as Web of Science, CINAHL etc, so it is worth checking the 'Learn' sections for tutorials and other material before using Pedro. It has a smaller number of articles to draw on than those other databases, however
- Sports Medicine Index (ProQuest): this is one of a wide range of databases and collections offered on the ProQuest platform.To see the full range, go to Change databases when in the Sports Medicine Index - and View by subject
Cochrane
- Cochrane Library: Widely used in the medical profession, which contains the results and discussion of evidence-based trials of medicines, materials, medical procedures, etc. Noted for its Systematic Reviews and Central Register of Controlled Trials. Note that some content may well be indexed also in Medline, which should be the first go-to source for biomedical articles (see following)
Further resources
- Elsevier ClinicalKey Student: This is not a bibliographic database for finding journal articles, but it does have a broad selection of key texts and multi-media material on a range of medical topics including anatomy, which can be of help to Physiotherapy and Sport and Exercise Science students. Set up an individual account with ClinicalKey the first time you use this resource
