2. What will we be doing today?
• Refresher
• What is a literature review?
• Searching effectively for journal articles
• Identifying primary and secondary
research
4. Why “evidence-based practice”?
• Why is research important in health care? EBP = use
of research evidence in practice.
• Allows informed decisions to provide a better standard
of care
• Evidence-based practice in vet nursing still quite new
(in Vet Medicine from early 2000s)
• Without the support of evidence – expertise can
deteriorate and practice becomes outdated.
5. Doing a literature review
• Aim is to comprehensively review what is known
(published) on a subject – the “evidence base”
• Can be the starting point for further research – “sets
the scene” and/or application to practice
• Two parts: Thorough literature search
• Critical analysis of the findings
• For this module: 2000 words including discussing the
process of undertaking a review
7. Exercise 2
• Try a search using Summon or Science Direct for
information to help with this scenario:
• “Your practice sees a lot of overweight dogs. What
evidence is there about the best ways of preventing
or managing obesity?”
9. Planning your search
The PICO model
• Patient / population / problem
• Intervention
• Comparison
• Outcome
10. What exactly are you trying to find out?
• Check the following:
• * Is your question clear?
• * Is your question short i.e. a single sentence?
• * Is your question specific with a single focus?
11. Brainstorm - Canine obesity
Canines
• Dogs
• Ages?
• Breeds?
Obesity
• Overweight
• Weight management
• Healthy weight
• Related conditions e.g.
diabetes, osteoarthritis
Prevention
/management
etc
• Diet
• Nutrition
• Food/feeding
• Exercise
• Attitudes (owners,
professionals)
What is the
role of the
veterinary
nurse in
prevention
and
management
of canine
obesity?
12. For any question:
• Consider the different keywords, related terms or subheadings
within your question;
• Think of possible synonyms e.g. equine or horses;
• Search each element separately;
• Combine searches on the same or similar subjects with OR
e.g. high blood pressure OR hypertension;
• Combine searches on different subjects using AND e.g.
diabetes AND cats.
13. Sources to search
• Databases
• Summon
• Google Scholar
• Individual journals specific to your topic
14. Key databases for Veterinary
Nursing
• All on the Vet Nursing library subject
guide
• http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/veterinarynursin
g
• Need to use a range of resources for a
thorough, comprehensive search
15. A few search tips...
• Search for phrases (“”):
eg. “infection control”
• Broaden your search (*):
eg. prevent* (finds prevent, prevents, preventing,
preventative etc)
16. A few search tips...
• Widen your search
eg. Obesity OR overweight OR weight management
• Narrow your search
eg. obesity AND canine
17. Limiting your search
• Date
• Peer reviewed?
• Type of article / study
• Research article
option is useful
(Science Direct,
CINAHL)
18. Try it yourself!
• Searching a database e.g. Science Direct, Summon
and other resource (e.g. Google Scholar) for peer
reviewed journal articles on:
Feline diabetes
(or your own topic)
20. Citation searching
• Allows you to move forwards and backwards in the
literature
• Use Google Scholar, Summon or Science Citation
Index
21. Primary or Secondary?
• In your groups, look at the ABSTRACTS and/or first
pages of the articles
• Is it primary or secondary research?
• How can you tell?
22. Distinguishing between primary and
secondary sources
•Primary sources – original research published
by the researchers in peer-reviewed journals.
•Secondary sources – work that summarises,
critiques or reviews primary research.
23. Accessing full text
• If using Summon or Science Direct, make sure you
have ticked / selected the appropriate limits.
• Check the library catalogue – Journal A-Z for
Journal title
• In MEDLINE, ‘Check library holdings’ will do this
for you
• Check Google Scholar for links to open access
papers
24. Access troubleshooting
• For best results, set the Middlesex cookie
• myUniHub> My Study > My Library
• Athens login = UniHub login
• N.B. If Middlesex isn’t mentioned on the screen,
choose Alternative login
• Troubleshooting guide on library subject pages:
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/accessingelectronicresource
s
25. But it’s not in the Library!
• Inter Library Loans
• British Library
• Google Scholar
• Institutional repositories
http://www.opendoar.org/find.php
26. Critical appraisal – why?
• Part of your literature review!
• As practitioners ensures that your decisions
are based on good quality research
• The more you read the easier it gets
• Saves time by being able to assess if a piece
of research is of good quality and worth
reading
• Develop the ability to make your own
judgements on whether a research conclusion
is valid
27. Critiquing research – useful books and
articles
• http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/content.php?pid=59607&sid
=2106689
28. Citing & Referencing
• Referencing and plagiarism guide
• http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/plagiarismreferencing
• Guidelines, help with Turnitin, and referencing clinics
• Help from Library and LDU
29. Need further help?
• Librarians in the Study Hub (1st floor) core hours Monday –
Friday
• 1:1 appointments bookable via the Veterinary Nursing
guide
Jo Wilson j.r.wilson@mdx.ac.uk
Ask a Librarian http://askalibrarian.mdx.ac.uk/
Editor's Notes
Not just trial and error - consistency
Examples from past
So far we’ve looked at:
Developing a search strategy
Coming up with useful keywords
Specialist journals for a particular condition, specialism etc
Abbreviations
Variant spellings
Inclusion/exclusion criteria
Don’t use linked full text limit (too limiting).....use links and catalogue to check for online access
Will need to write this up as part of methods section – no. Of results, filtering limits etc.
Can save the search and return to it later
Using reference lists too.
Demo cookie on Summon front page
Framework to decide if/how you use resources
Important questions are whether methodology was appropriate for the question and how well it was done
