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Helpful Sites for Finding Paper Topics
Starting your Research
As a Ferris student, you should access PubMed through FLITE's homepage using the Databases link. You will find PubMed through both the Health and Medical Resources link off of the databases page, as well as through the alphabetical list of databases. PubMed is the publicly available version of MEDLINE that contains the contents of Old MEDLINE, current MEDLINE, and Pre-MEDLINE. This will be available to you even after you graduate, using the publicly available version of PubMED made available through the National Library of Medicine. However, as a Ferris student, you should link to PubMed from FLITE's databases link so that you can get the full-text of articles made available through the library's subscriptions.
If you are doing research from off-campus, you will need to log-on to use databases and other online resources licensed by FSU. Click here for information on off-campus database access.
Why Use PubMed instead of MEDLINE at Ferris
FLITE currently does not subscribe to a full-text version of MEDLINE. If you are affiliated with an institution that offers a full-text version of MEDLINE, then certainly take advantage of the full-text available through that resource. Keep in mind though that PubMed contains pre-publication information and has many helpful resources for pharmacists NOT found in MEDLINE, including select resources such as:
- Single Citation Matcher: Have a vague or questionable citation? Use this resource to track down health-related citations using the information that you know to be correct.
- Clinical Queries: Need a systematic review (ie meta-analysis) to get evidence-based medicine answers? Use the Find Systematic Reviews feature and get highly-regarded information on a topic.
- Toxnet: Search databases for information on toxicology, hazardous substances, etc.
- Consumer Health: Use this link to go to Medline Plus and find links to trusted consumer health-information. These resources have been selected by the National Library of Medicine; therefore they should contain RELIABLE information
- Clinical Alerts: Stay on top of medical advisories and alerts!!
- Clinical TrialsFind out what clinical trials are available for various diseases and what institutions are participants,etc.
Starting your Search using the MeSH Database to Get More On-topic Results
With MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), articles that are on the same topic, but may have used different keywords, are categorized under a common term. For example, if you wanted articles on inoculations, also called vaccinations, articles on either topic would be categorized under one central MeSH term: vaccination.- For more information on using MeSH, please click here for links to tutorials.
How to Limit Your Results, Especially after Keyword Searching
- Limits tab: Use this tab to limit your search to only English language articles, certain publication types, or to search keywords only in the title using the Default Tag Title designator located at the bottom of the limits screen
- Related articles link: When you find an article that is very much on topic, use the related articles link to pull up articles with very similar topical coverage
- Review tab: This will show you only review articles (articles where somebody has reviewed multiple resources on a topic and written an overview based on the literature reviewed). Remember, not all review articles are created equally, so sonsider using the Clinical Queries Find Systematic Reviews function to pull-up highly regarded meta-analyses, guidelines, etc.
Guides to help you use PubMed more effectively
- PubMed Database Guide
- PubMed PowerPoint with screen shots
- Excellent Medical Subject Headings Guide that includes information on searching for drug and chemical information.
Obtaining the Full-Text of Articles
In some databases you will see an option for a Text version of the document or a PDF version. In general, the PDF version is preferable as it is most often a scanned version of the original and will therefore contain the graphics. When e-mailing, printing, or saving a group of articles, be sure to select the full-text or PDF option if available.
Some databases contain little full-text, but allow you to link out to Ferris' holdings or the interlibrary loan request form. You will notice the Find it! links following individual citations that will indicate the availability of the article online, in the library, or the need to interlibrary loan the article. Click on the Go button and you will be taken to the online version, library holdings record, or interlibrary loan form to obtain the article you desire.
Evaluating your Articles
Before requesting articles from interlibrary loan, please review the abstract and make sure that the article is on-topic. Also, please insure that the article is in a language that you speak, as some databases, such as PubMed index many non-English articles that have abstracts written in English. After you have evaluated the topical coverage and language of the article, please do not hesitate to request it through interlibrary loan if it is not available on campus.
Useful Links
The NLM Style Guide
Library Homepage
Find Articles using databases.
Find Journals in the online catalog's journals tab.
Find books, videos, and other library holdings using the online catalog.
RefWorks Direct Link: Go directly into this handy citation formatting tool.
RefWorks Tutorial from FLITE: Use this link to get into FLITE's RefWorks Tutorial, including the handy A-Z Database Exporting Guide that will show you how to get your citations into RefWorks from all Ferris licensed databases.
RefWorks Tutorials from RefWorks: A great collection of audio/video tutorials, including one on Write-n-Cite.
APA Citation Style Guide: Learn basics about APA style, a prevalent citation format in the medical field.
If you have any questions about what was covered in class, or
regarding using the library for research,
E-mail Ali
Also, please feel free to contact a reference librarian by visiting at the South Service Desk, or calling at 231-591-3602 or chatting with us live.
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Last update: February 20, 2008