*PA Program - EBM Course

There are a few different ways to approach doing a literature search. Most commonly, searching within a discipline-specific database or a discipline-focused collection of journals is a solid method for locating relevant literature. Beyond these approaches, searching within a journal can be utilized when attempting to locate a "known" or specific article. See below for further information on databases and journals.

Databases are aggregators that scan indexed content and display results within thousands of journals and periodicals from an array of publishers. Some databases are multidisciplinary, while others are discipline-specific and focus on a few (or several) related disciplines.

Journals are individual publications in which original research articles, review articles, and official reports are published. (Additionally, you may also find content such as editorials, book reviews, and pieces written for a general, consumer audience.) Journals are published at various intervals during a year (e.g., weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually, annually), which is why they may also be referred to as "periodicals" (a generic term for journals, magazines, and newspapers).

Journal content can be searched in different ways:

• Databases - journal articles may be indexed in aggregated databases amongst related literature published in other journals to increase their discoverability. (e.g., PubMed, PsycInfo, JSTOR)
• Journal content may be searched from within a specific journal title, a themed collection of content from a publisher, or a suite of journals from one publisher or learned society. (e.g., Annals of Family Medicine, Sage Journals' "health sciences" collection, ASM Journals)