Full database
Licensed
Broad spectrum healthcare
Nursing
Midwifery
Other healthcare professions.
Broad spectrum of document types
Books/book chapters
Journal articles
Articles from most English language nursing journals, National League for Nursing and American Nurses Association publications.
Broad spectrum of research designs
International
German
English
French
Multiple interface languages
Spanish
Language preset depending on the country (e.g. German for institutions in Germany), a total of 30 languages can be selected.
English
Weekly
IMPORTANT NOTE!!! All EBSCO databases have recently been given a new interface. This database overview still applies to the original interface, as the update process is still ongoing and some functions are still being fine-tuned until April according to EBSCO (see also https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/New-EBSCO-User-Interface-Updates-for-the-Medical-Market?language=en_US). - As of 20.02.2025
- Further versions of the database, which differ only in the scope of available literature, but not in layout and operation: CINAHL with Full Text, CINAHL Plus, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, CINAHL Complete, CINAHL Ultimate.
Basic functions
Search functions
AND, OR and NOT.
* can be used either at the end of a word, where it replaces zero, one or more letters (e.g. econom*) or between words, where it replaces a whole word (e.g. pulmonal* disease also finds pulmonary obstructive disease). pulmonal* disease also finds pulmonary obstructive disease), # replaces zero or one letter (e.g. colo#r finds color and colour), ? replaces exactly one letter (e.g. ne?t finds neat, nest or next). It is not possible to use * in combination with the other two wildcards.
Nn, Wn, n should be replaced with the maximum number of words between two terms. N does not take into account the order in which the search terms were entered. W, on the other hand, takes into account the order in which the search terms were entered. E.g. would find thrombosis W5 prevention matches containing thrombosis prevention but not prevention of thrombosis, thrombosis N5 prevention would find both (each five words apart).
Quotation marks must have the English spelling ("..."). Simultaneous use of wildcards and quotation marks possible.
The default search includes the search fields Title, Abstract and Subject Headings. It is therefore not the same as "all fields".
The search in title and abstract is only possible separately.
E.g. Gender, age group, topic.
Possible to a limited extent.
Possible to a limited extent.
Filter functions
Search filter can be selected before and after the search process.
Can be narrowed down to the exact month.
Filter "Special interest".
Together with document type under the "Publication type" filter.
E.g. Academic Journals, Book Reviews, Magazines, Newspapers, Conference Papers. Together with research designs under the filter "Publication type".
Filter "Geographical subcategory".
E.g. Age groups, gender, magazine category.
If several characteristics of a single filter are required at the same time, e.g. several age groups, you can select all the desired characteristics by left-clicking while holding down the Ctrl key if these settings are to be made before the search process.
Display of search results
Publication date, oldest or newest hits first.
Display of 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 hits per page possible.
Search process and export
Individual components of the search history can be deleted and/or combined with each other (AND, OR). The operator NOT must be manually written to the search history via "Edit" (to do this, combine two entries with AND or OR and then manually replace them with NOT).
Via e-mail and/or RSS feed.
Depending on the respective license agreement. Up to a maximum of 25000 hits.
Support functions
Enables e.g. Saving the search and/or creating automatic notifications of newly indexed hits.
Special functions
Important search commands
In many cases the subject headings are identical to the MeSH terms in MEDLINE, but there may also be deviations. MeSH terms used in a MEDLINE literature search should therefore always be checked in the manner described above before they are used in CINAHL to ensure that no other or a more specific index term has been entered for the term.
Search term is only searched for in the title.
Search term is only searched in the abstract.
Although the title and abstract can only be searched separately, the search commands can also be used to search both the title and the abstract within a search. To do this, the respective search term must be written into the search strategy once with the TI command and once with the AB command. Both must be combined with the operator OR.
Example: TI midwifery OR AB midwifery
A single search command written before brackets automatically applies to all search terms grouped together in the brackets.
Example: TI (cancer OR tumor AND neoplasm) TI (nursing OR caring)
Controlled vocabulary
CINAHL uses an integrated controlled vocabulary that enables a controlled search. The superordinate or subordinate index terms contained therein are referred to as subject headings. There are also so-called subheadings for individual index terms, which represent thematic subcategories of the respective keyword and can be used to refine the search (e.g. diagnosis, therapy).
Select the third menu item "CINAHL Subject Headings" at the top left of the page on the blue border.
Enter the term in the search interface and set whether the index term should begin with the term (Term Begins with), contain the term (Term Contains) or whether the index terms found should simply be ranked according to their relevance (Relevancy Ranked). It is advisable to leave the default setting "Relevancy Ranked". Then click on "Browse".
A list of the index terms found appears. Click on the speech bubble to the right of the respective index term to view the associated scope note:a) Click on the desired index term to open a tree view from which superordinate or subordinate terms can be selected and/or included if required. To do this, click on the checkbox to the left of the desired term. The "Subheadings for:..." box opens on the right-hand side. In this box, "Include All Subheadings" is already ticked by default, which means that all subordinate subheadings are included in the search. If only certain subordinate index terms are to be included, click to remove the checkmark and place it next to all desired index terms. Finally, click on "Search Database" on the right-hand side to include the desired index terms in the search strategy. Keywords at the top level that no longer have any superordinate terms are referred to as Major Subject Headings.b) The index terms found can also be entered manually in the search strategy. The table below contains different search commands depending on the index term and the desired search field. Subordinate index terms are not automatically included in the search if a superordinate index term is used in the search strategy. To do this, the index term must be supplemented with
+, e.g.MH Dementia+.
Search term is only searched in Major Subject Headings, search term is exact index term.
Search term is only searched in Major Subject Headings, search term is part of the index term.
Enables index terms in the search to be limited to certain subcategories using subheadings. Several subheadings can be used in succession. A list of all subheadings and their abbreviations can be found here: Link.
Citation searching
Backward citation searching
In principle, backward citation searching is possible in CINAHL. However, since only the references cited by the respective hits that are also contained in CINAHL are found and the range of journals or other sources contained is limited, the backward search is very incomplete and many references cited by the respective hits are often missing. For many hits found, no cited references are displayed at all.
- In the list of results, click on the link "References cited (n)" under the desired hit, if available.
- A list of the references cited in CINAHL is displayed. By clicking on the folder and the plus symbol to the right of it, the desired references can be assigned to the "folder" at the top right.
- Click on "Folder" to open the list of references in the folder, which can be exported as required using the same procedure as under "Export all hits (alternative solution)".
Forward citation searching
In principle, forward citation searching is possible in CINAHL. However, since only references citing the respective hits are found that are also contained in CINAHL and the range of journals or other sources contained is limited, the forward search is very incomplete and many of the references citing the respective hits are often missing. For many of the hits found, no citing references are displayed at all.
- In the results list, click on the link "References cited (n)" under the desired hit, if available.
- A list of the references cited in CINAHL is displayed. By clicking on the folder and the plus symbol to the right of it, the desired references can be assigned to the "folder" at the top right.
- Click on "Folder" to open the list of references in the folder, which can be exported as required using the same procedure as under "Export all hits (alternative solution)".
Export of results
Export of single hits
- Click on the hit to be exported.
- Click on "Export" in the bar in the middle of the right-hand side, select the setting "Direct export in RIS format (e.g. CITAVI, EasyBib, EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, Zotero)" in the Export Manager that opens or another setting depending on the reference management software used, then click on "Save".
- All further steps depend on the Internet browser and reference management software used.
Export of all hits at once
Depending on the license agreement of the institution, there may be different export functions. If the procedure described below is not possible at your institution, the hits can be exported using an alternative solution.
The institution can apply to EBSCO to export up to 25,000 hits independently of the license agreement.
- Click on "Share" on the right above the hit list. Under "Export results", click on "Send a link to download the exported results (up to ....) by e-mail".
- On the next page, under "E-mail to:", enter the desired e-mail address to which the link should be sent. On the right-hand side, under "Send link by e-mail to a file with citations in:", you can select the desired file format. We recommend selecting the top setting "RIS format (e.g. CITAVI, EasyBib, EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, Zotero)" or another setting depending on the reference management software used. Finally, click on "Send" in the middle left and confirm the green window that opens by clicking on "Next".
- All further steps depend on the Internet browser and reference management software used. A maximum of 25,000 hits can be exported at once; as a rule, the number of hits in a CINAHL literature search is significantly lower.
Export of all hits (alternative)
In this case, exporting larger sets of hits is more time-consuming, as all hits must first be moved to an extra folder for export and this moving is only possible page by page, i.e. for all hits displayed on a page.
- By default, 30 hits per page are displayed. As each page must be selected individually for the export, it is recommended to set the highest possible number of 50 hits for larger numbers of hits. This setting is made by clicking on "Page options" above the hit list on the right-hand side. A bar will open, click on "Results per page" 50.
- Click on "Share" to the right of "Results per page". A bar will open, click on "Results (1-50)" under "Add to folder".
- All hits displayed on the page have now been transferred to the folder. This procedure must now be repeated for all other pages of the search results. To do this, scroll all the way down with the mouse and simply click on the number of the next page or "Next" under "Page" on the left-hand side of the hit list. On the next page or the following pages, repeat the procedure described in step 2 until all search results have been added to the folder.
- When all search results have been added to the folder, click on "Folder" in the blue bar at the top on the right-hand side.
- Click on "Export" on the right-hand side. The Export Manager opens. Leave the pre-selected setting "Direct export in RIS format (e.g. CITAVI, EasyBib, EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, Zotero)" or select another desired file format and click on "Save" on the left.
- All further steps depend on the Internet browser and reference management software used. Depending on the setup, this alternative may limit the number of hits that can be exported at once (e.g. to 1000). In these cases, the hits must be exported in several steps if the number of hits is higher, whereby double export of the same hits should be avoided. It is therefore advisable to first move as many hits as can be exported to the folder using "Add to folder" and export them as described above. After the export, the hits can be removed from the folder and the next hits to be exported can be added. To do this, click on the "Remove these items from folder after saving" function. This procedure can then be repeated until all hits have been exported.
Related links
- Help section of CINAHL (English): Link.
- List of journals indexed in CINAHL (alphabetically ordered overview of all EBSCO databases, scroll to the corresponding location): Link.
- Help section of EBSCO (English): Link, German: Link.
- Frequently asked questions, help and tutorials on EBSCO databases: Link.
- Homepage of the InterTASC Information Specialists' Sub-Group (ISSG) with search filters: Link.