Research Guides: Physician Assistant: Capstone Resources

Capstone Research

You must get Institutional Review Board approval for all human subject research.

Plan your search first. You can use the PICO Search Strategy Worksheet below to guide the process.
Choose databases appropriate to the subject and type of information that you are looking for.
Focus on using primary sources that are original research. Refer to the Evidence Pyramid.
Take advantage of the Advanced Search Techniques available in many databases.
Remember that searching is an iterative process. You will usually need to refine your strategy several times.
Pay attention to the indexing terms or assigned subject headings, referenced sources and related citations.

Identify potential journals by searching by subject in the National Library of Medicine catalog or WorldCat. Use filters to limit your search to journals currently indexed in Medline. You may want to limit your search to English language journals.
Review the Aims and Scopes and Author Instructions to ensure that your topic is appropriate and read about the peer review process for the journal.
Read the instructions to reviewers as well, and keep these pints in mind as you write your article.
Review recent issues to make sure that the journal has not published a similar article recently.
Consider the impact factor or relative importance of the journal. You can usually find the impact factor on the publisher's Web site. To compare different journals in a particular subject, use Journal Citation Reports.
Other factors to consider include the acceptance/rejection rate, the length of the review process, any author or processing fees, and author rights.

Be sure you have the correct citation. You can verify many citation using the Single Citation Matcher tool from the National Library of Medicine (PubMed).
If there is no link to full text in the searched database, start by looking up the journal name in the library's Journal search and look for a resource that provides access to the desired date range.
If you do not find the title or date range desired, check the journal name in the library catalog.
If you still cannot find the journal, place an article request using the interlibrary loan article request form or ask your librarian for assistance.

ECRI Guidelines Trust
Currently one of the best resource available to search widely for practice and clinical guidelines. This is available through OVID.

CINAHL Plus with Full Text (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Steps to search for practice guidelines in CINAHL: Type the topic (such as a condition, symptom, or clinical procedure) in the search box on the Advanced Search page. If you already know the name of the guideline, do a title search. Select "Publication Type" menu in the Advanced Search section and type in the term "Practice Guideline."
ClinicalKey This link opens in a new window
Clinical Key includes guideline updates. Searching features in Clinical Key: Click on the "Practice Guidelines" menu in the top toolbar to search for guidelines. Search by authoring organization, specialty, or topic.
DynaMedex (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Evidence-based resource that combines Dynamed and Micromedex content. Designed to facilitate clinical decision-making at the point of care.
PubMed (NLM) This link opens in a new window
Steps to search for practice guidelines in PubMed: Type the topic (such as a condition, symptom, or clinical procedure) in the search box. Click on the "Additional Filters" button and check the box next to "Practice Guideline" under the section labeled "Article Type" and click "Show."

ClinicalTrials.gov ClinicalTrials.gov provides patients, family members, health care professionals, researchers, and the public with easy access to information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies on a wide range of diseases and conditions. Studies are generally registered when they begin, and the information on the site is updated throughout the study.

AccessMedicine This link opens in a new window
Clinical and educational medicine textbooks. Also has drug information, practice guidelines, quick access to diagnosis and treatment of disorders, diagnostic tests, customizable patient education materials, and health news channels.
DynaMedex (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Evidence-based resource that combines Dynamed and Micromedex content. Designed to facilitate clinical decision-making at the point of care.