Searching EBSCO Databases: CINAHL, PsycInfo, & Global Health: Advanced Search

If your search is more complex or requires a greater number of limiters, it is helpful to conduct an advanced search. CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, and Global Health all default to an advanced search.

All EBSCOhost databases have the same advanced search bar.

On this page, you can add Boolean operators to your search and construct a more comprehensive search. The drop-down menu gives you the option to choose between "AND," "OR," and "NOT." The default is "AND."

Boolean operators work to connect your various search terms. Using "OR" will show results that include any of your search terms. Using "AND" will only show you results that include all of your search terms. Using "NOT" will show you results that include the first term but not the second term. Be careful when using "NOT;" this can sometimes narrow the search too much and cause it to eliminate applicable results.

Once you have added your search string, you can click "Select a Field" to search in a specific location, such as the title or subject heading.

Then click "Search" to view results.

If you have questions about searching by fields or other advanced search operations, each EBSCOhost database has a "Help" button in the menu on the left side of the screen where you can get more information about advanced searching. 

Each of the databases included in this guide have Controlled Vocabulary Subject Headings that are used to index all citations within the database and can be included in your searches to make them more inclusive. If you are familiar with MeSH in PubMed, these are the equivalent terms within these databases. To look up these terms, look for a tab in the menu below the search bar; in CINAHL it's called "CINAHL Headings," in PsycInfo it's called "Subjects," and in Global Health it's called "Subjects."

CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, and Global Health offer slightly different filters and search options to choose from on their advanced search pages. These options allow you to access a more specific list of results.

The databases have filters that allow you to limit your results in some way (by publication type or date range, for example) on the "Filters" tab. If you are running a comprehensive search, using these filters may cause you to miss some results. 

The "Search options" tab includes additional options you can apply to your search.

On any of these databases, if you want to include synonyms and plurals of your search terms, you must click the box next to "Apply related words."

Mapped vocabulary terms are words that might be related to your search terms. All three databases automatically include mapped vocabulary terms. If you do not want to include mapped vocabulary terms, you must unclick the box next to "Apply equivalent subjects."

CINAHL's advanced search page allows you to limit by multiple options, including age group, whether the author is a nurse, journal subset, and special interest subject areas.

APA PsycInfo's advanced search page allows you to limit by multiple options, including methodology, classification codes, and tests and measures.

Global Health's advanced search page allows you to limit by multiple options, including author, publication type, and broad category.