EBSCOhost: How to Use

• In the Search Options section, under Limit your Results, there are filters you can use to refine your search. Different databases have the filters positioned in different areas of the Search Options box. Depending on the database, there is slightly different wording for the name of filters or different Type categories

• Click Scholarly (peer-reviewed) Journals or peer-reviewed for scholarly work (see the What is peer-reviewed box on this page for more information)

• Click Full Text to access the whole article. If you want to include articles that have abstracts (summaries) only, do not click Full Text. (These are indexed by EBSCO, but are not covered by the EBSCO subscription). These abstracts are useful, particularly for ākonga doing postgraduate study who want to see research on their topic that is not supplied by EBSCO. The titles of these abstract-only articles can be searched for in other library databases

• Select a Date of Publication or Published Date range e.g. last 5 years (2018-2023)

• Depending on the subject area, select other relevant filters i.e. systematic reviews or geographic subset etc.

• Click PDF Full Text on the left to view the full text of the article. Note PDFs are formatted as if you are looking at the physical copy of the journal. They also display graphs and figures/images like the original. HTML versions of articles often do not show graphs etc. PDFs have page numbers which are important for referencing and are directly quoting information
• Read online, download or print the PDF 

• Look at Tools on the right to save, email to yourself (or others), export to referencing software or cite an article (Check any citation from a cite tool against the APA Referencing guide) 

• If you add items to a folder, it will be temporary and only saved for that session. To save anything permanently, sign in (Top right of the screen, blue bar) with your institutional email and a password. First time signing in? You wil need to sign up for an account 

• The CINAHL and Medline Complete databases use CINAHL Subject Headings or MESH (Medical Subject Headings)
• These are organised hierarchically in a tree-like structure and enable a targeted search on a specific topic
• A search for Diabetes will give you Diabetes Mellitus and subgroups such as Type 1, diabetes Type 2 etc (Note: This is an American database so will use American spelling)

• You can view scope notes about a topic, select subheadings to add to your search and combine selections using AND or OR
• Click Search Database to view results

• To refine your results further, add keywords to the search boxes 

PICO searching with CINAHL Ultimate database

A flyer on PICO which is a mnemonic used to describe the four elements of a clinical question to be formulated prior to starting one’s research.

• After clicking Search, look at the centre column to see your search results
• Refine your results further using the filters on the left e.g. academic journals etc
• Click the down arrow next to Relevance on the right to sort results by newest, oldest or how relevant they are to your topic
• Click Page Options to change how you view the page
• Click Share to add to a folder, set up alerts and locate a permalink (permanent and reliable URL that leads you to the page)
• Click for a quick view of the article's details and the option to view the HTML or PDF versions or add the article to a folder
• Click the article title to go to detailed information about the article i.e. its journal title (source), subject headings, an abstract (summary of what the article is about), DOI (Digitial Object Identifier used for referencing)
• Scroll to the bottom of the detailed page to view an HTML version of the article
• Click the Choose Language, then Translate tab to have the article translated into a language of your choosing 
• Click Listen to have the article read aloud 
• Click the 3 bars to view a drop down menu to select different features i.e.choose a reading voice, enlarge the text and download a mp3 version (audio file) of the article and more

• Click Search History to see all the previous searches you have done in this session
• Combine searches listed in search history using AND or OR for a more targeted search
• If the Search History gets too long, click the Search History link again to collapse the list

• Some EBSCOhost databases have Subject Terms or Thesaurus found in the blue bar at the top of the screen
• These are also known as controlled vocabulary. They are predefined consistent terms that give you the word or words related directly to your topic
• These terms are based on the content of an article
• Select one term or select more than one term and combine these terms using AND, OR, NOT found in the drop down menu e.g. abandoned buildings AND abbeys
• Click Add to view your search results

• EBSCO has eBooks. They are: EBSCOhost eBook Collection, eBook Academic Collection and eBook Open Access (OA) Collection. Click here to access
• Combine keywords and / or use the specific fields (author, title, all text etc) to get the results you want
• Add or take away search boxes by clicking the + or - sign next to the bottom search box
• Refine your search using the filters i.e. Full Text, Download Available, Published Date etc
• Click Search

• Click PDF Full text or EPUB Full text to load the eBook
• Read online. See the detail record in the top left for information on any download or copy restrictions
• If allowed, download, print or add the book to a folder 

Peer-reviewed or refereed is when scholarly work is evaluated by other experts in the field (usually anonymously) before it is accepted to be published in a scholary journal. This ensures the required standard of expertise is met.

You should support your argument, reflections or discussions in your assignments with peer-reviewed material. This shows your ability to research widely and shows that you have consulted experts whose qualified opinion is based on research. 

EBSCOhost databases have the ability to create journal and search alerts.  Check out the Help link in the top right of the screen for information on how to set this up.