Core Nursing Databases
These health sciences databases are considered the best place to start your search. Majority of the information in these databases has been peer-reviewed, but most articles have not been evaluated by experts to determine the strength of the evidence. Content ranges from expert opinions to systematic reviews and meta analyses. These databases are considered to have unfiltered information.
CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCO) Tutorial
Indexes academic journals, standards of practice, trade magazines, continuing education units, dissertations, and more in the fields of nursing and allied health. Includes abstracts and selected full text. Coverage goes back to 1981.
Emcare (Ovid)
Offers access to evidence-based nursing, public health, medical and allied health literature. Contains over 5 million records with access to 3,700 indexed peer-reviewed journals. Coverage is from 1995 to the present.
Journals@Ovid
Provides Villanova users access to full-text articles from 47 nursing journals and to citations to articles in over 700 scientific, technical and medical journals. Years covered vary with the journal but most date from 1996 to date.
PubMed Tutorial
Offers indexing of journal articles and books in all areas of biomedicine. Worldwide coverage with an emphasis on English-language peer-reviewed journals. Developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and currently maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCO) Tutorial
Indexes academic journals, standards of practice, trade magazines, continuing education units, dissertations, and more in the fields of nursing and allied health. Includes abstracts and selected full text. Coverage goes back to 1981.
Emcare (Ovid)
Offers access to evidence-based nursing, public health, medical and allied health literature. Contains over 5 million records with access to 3,700 indexed peer-reviewed journals. Coverage is from 1995 to the present.
Journals@Ovid
Provides Villanova users access to full-text articles from 47 nursing journals and to citations to articles in over 700 scientific, technical and medical journals. Years covered vary with the journal but most date from 1996 to date.
PubMed Tutorial
Offers indexing of journal articles and books in all areas of biomedicine. Worldwide coverage with an emphasis on English-language peer-reviewed journals. Developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and currently maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Evidence-Based Practice Databases
These resources will generally provide higher levels of evidence because experts have collected, analyzed, and reported on the evidence for you. This is called filtered information. Higher types of evidence include Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, Guidelines, and Critically Appraised Topics.
UpToDate (Wolters Kluwer) Access Instructions
Offers evidence-based medical treatment guidelines, clinical images, calculators, drug information, and patient information sheets. All content is physician-authored.
Nursing Reference Center Plus (EBSCO) Tutorial Access Instructions
Offers user-friendly point-of-care information that delivers the most recent clinical evidence and knowledge on conditions and diseases via a nursing-specific graphical interface. Includes patient care plans, patient education documents, competency checklists, and drug updates. Complimentary access to the mobile app version available for iPhones, iPads or Android devices.
Cochrane Library
Offers systematic reviews of healthcare interventions in support of evidence-based practice. Includes systematic reviews and methodology reviews, abstracts of reviews of effects, a central register of controlled trials, a methodology register, health technology assessments, and NHS economic evaluations.
Trip Database
Provides access to evidence-based medical information in various formats: articles, images, videos, patient information materials, education courses, and news.
This is a free, publicly available resource and does not include the Library's "Find It" link in search results. To check for full text access, use the Journal Finder link on the library homepage.
UpToDate (Wolters Kluwer) Access Instructions
Offers evidence-based medical treatment guidelines, clinical images, calculators, drug information, and patient information sheets. All content is physician-authored.
Nursing Reference Center Plus (EBSCO) Tutorial Access Instructions
Offers user-friendly point-of-care information that delivers the most recent clinical evidence and knowledge on conditions and diseases via a nursing-specific graphical interface. Includes patient care plans, patient education documents, competency checklists, and drug updates. Complimentary access to the mobile app version available for iPhones, iPads or Android devices.
Cochrane Library
Offers systematic reviews of healthcare interventions in support of evidence-based practice. Includes systematic reviews and methodology reviews, abstracts of reviews of effects, a central register of controlled trials, a methodology register, health technology assessments, and NHS economic evaluations.
Trip Database
Provides access to evidence-based medical information in various formats: articles, images, videos, patient information materials, education courses, and news.
This is a free, publicly available resource and does not include the Library's "Find It" link in search results. To check for full text access, use the Journal Finder link on the library homepage.
Other databases
Depending on your research topic, these databases could be helpful.
ERIC (EBSCO)
Indexes and abstracts education journals, curriculum and teaching guides, conference papers, dissertations and theses, books, and Department of Education (ED) research reports. References for ED research reports often have links to the full text. Coverage goes back to 1966. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Scholar search tips
Natural Medicines Database
Provides information on dietary supplements, natural medicines, and complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies. Contains tools including patient handouts, interactions checking, comparative effectiveness information, and pregnancy and lactation adverse effects checks. Updated continually.
PsycINFO (ProQuest) Tutorial
Provides abstracts and indexing to journals, books, book chapters, technical reports and dissertations in all areas of psychology. This database is produced by the American Psychological Association (APA). International in scope; coverage is from 1887 to the present.
PsychiatryOnline (American Psychiatric Association)
Includes the full text of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), content from several psychiatric journals and textbooks, self-assessment tools, medication information handouts, and more. Also includes American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines in both comprehensive and quick-reference formats.
ScienceDirect (Elsevier)
Provides full text access to thousands of journals in the sciences, engineering, and the social sciences and humanities.
Scopus (Elsevier)
Provides citations and abstracts to peer-reviewed journals, books, and conference proceedings in all major disciplines. Provides information on citing and cited references for each article.
Web of Science (Clarivate) Tutorial
Provides access to the Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Conference Proceeding Citation Index, Book Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Current Chemical Reactions, and Index Chemicus. Search for scholarly articles in any discipline, or for articles that cite a known author or work. Coverage varies.
ERIC (EBSCO)
Indexes and abstracts education journals, curriculum and teaching guides, conference papers, dissertations and theses, books, and Department of Education (ED) research reports. References for ED research reports often have links to the full text. Coverage goes back to 1966. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Scholar search tips
Natural Medicines Database
Provides information on dietary supplements, natural medicines, and complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies. Contains tools including patient handouts, interactions checking, comparative effectiveness information, and pregnancy and lactation adverse effects checks. Updated continually.
PsycINFO (ProQuest) Tutorial
Provides abstracts and indexing to journals, books, book chapters, technical reports and dissertations in all areas of psychology. This database is produced by the American Psychological Association (APA). International in scope; coverage is from 1887 to the present.
PsychiatryOnline (American Psychiatric Association)
Includes the full text of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), content from several psychiatric journals and textbooks, self-assessment tools, medication information handouts, and more. Also includes American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines in both comprehensive and quick-reference formats.
ScienceDirect (Elsevier)
Provides full text access to thousands of journals in the sciences, engineering, and the social sciences and humanities.
Scopus (Elsevier)
Provides citations and abstracts to peer-reviewed journals, books, and conference proceedings in all major disciplines. Provides information on citing and cited references for each article.
Web of Science (Clarivate) Tutorial
Provides access to the Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Conference Proceeding Citation Index, Book Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Current Chemical Reactions, and Index Chemicus. Search for scholarly articles in any discipline, or for articles that cite a known author or work. Coverage varies.
Dissertation and theses
View dissertations and theses written by students at Villanova and other institutions.
Dissertations and Theses Global (ProQuest)
Provides citations, abstracts, and full text, when available, of dissertations and theses from 1743 to the present.
Dissertations and Theses @ Villanova University (ProQuest)
Provides citations, abstracts, and full text, when available, of Villanova University dissertations and theses submitted to and published by ProQuest. Coverage goes back to 1969.
Dissertations and Theses Global (ProQuest)
Provides citations, abstracts, and full text, when available, of dissertations and theses from 1743 to the present.
Dissertations and Theses @ Villanova University (ProQuest)
Provides citations, abstracts, and full text, when available, of Villanova University dissertations and theses submitted to and published by ProQuest. Coverage goes back to 1969.
Data and Statistics
Statista
Provides a portal to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources. Topics covered include industries, media, companies, product categories, and countries.
Community Health Data Base (Pennsylvania Household Health Survey) Limitations on Use Access Instructions
Provides online access to local health-related data at the census tract, ZIP code, county and regional levels. Includes information about health status, personal health behaviors, and access to and utilization of area health services. Data collected through the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey which surveys Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties every other year.
Statistical Insight (ProQuest) Tutorial
Offers indexing, abstracting, and selected full text of statistical publications from U.S. state and federal governments, business and research institutes, and international material from the UN, OECD, EU, etc. Some tables are available in GIF, XLS, CSV, and other formats.
Social Explorer
Provides access to maps and tables of U.S. Census and American Community Survey data from 1790 through most recently released data. Also includes datasets on election, health, crime, religion, and environmental topics, as well as some international data (UK Census 2011; Canadian Census 2011; selected Eurostat data; and World Development Indicators from the World Bank.) Create a free personal account in order to save your work.
Data.census.gov
Data from the Census Bureau from 2010 through most recent releases, including the American Community Survey, the Decennial Census, and several other surveys conducted by the bureau.
Provides a portal to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources. Topics covered include industries, media, companies, product categories, and countries.
Community Health Data Base (Pennsylvania Household Health Survey) Limitations on Use Access Instructions
Provides online access to local health-related data at the census tract, ZIP code, county and regional levels. Includes information about health status, personal health behaviors, and access to and utilization of area health services. Data collected through the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey which surveys Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties every other year.
Statistical Insight (ProQuest) Tutorial
Offers indexing, abstracting, and selected full text of statistical publications from U.S. state and federal governments, business and research institutes, and international material from the UN, OECD, EU, etc. Some tables are available in GIF, XLS, CSV, and other formats.
Social Explorer
Provides access to maps and tables of U.S. Census and American Community Survey data from 1790 through most recently released data. Also includes datasets on election, health, crime, religion, and environmental topics, as well as some international data (UK Census 2011; Canadian Census 2011; selected Eurostat data; and World Development Indicators from the World Bank.) Create a free personal account in order to save your work.
Data.census.gov
Data from the Census Bureau from 2010 through most recent releases, including the American Community Survey, the Decennial Census, and several other surveys conducted by the bureau.