This course page presents a number of resources to help you with your research assignments for HSCI 3215. I suggest starting first by looking for some background information within the library resources on your health topic and various complementary and alternative therapies. Follow this with exploring the article databases to locate systematic reviews and meta-analyses for your chose therapies. I've included some credible and authoritative freely accessible sources as well; you will want to critically evaluate all sources you find both from the library and the open web.
At the bottom of this page, you will see some guides and resources for referencing your sources using APA, 7th edition.
Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions for this page. It is a work in progress.
Celia Brinkerhoff, Health Science Librarian
(Thanks to Lisa Hubick, Health Librarian, for suggestions and contributions to this page!)
The library subscribes to Credo Reference, a large collection of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized handbooks. Try searching for some background information on your topic. Most of the articles in Credo are written by credible authors who are established experts in their field.
In addition to a topic overview, you will also find:
Here are just a few of the library's ebooks on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). These will provide overviews on your topic, with suggestions for further reading. Click on the title to go to full descriptions in the catalogue, and from there, use the link to access. You will need to login with your KPU ID.
Our ebook platforms have search functions within the contents of each book.
You can also browse the library's catalogue using the following broad subject headings. These searches have been limited to "online" access only, so no print holdings will show up.
Additional resources for understanding the implications of CAM.
Image source: CFCF CCBY-SA 4.0.
Using LWW Online (this database includes our largest repository of Systematic Reviews - both Cochrane & JBI), click on the Limit option under the search box and select Full Systematic Reviews
Using CINAHL, select Meta Analysis and/or Systematic Review from the Publication Type menu on the landing page (use the CTRL button on the keyboard to select both from the menu)
Using Medline, select Systematic Reviews from the Publication Type menu on the landing page
Using PubMed, under the Article Types filter in the left-hand column of your search results, select Systematic Reviews and/or Meta-Analysis
Using Summon (the big box on the library homepage), include "systematic review" in your search
Using Google Scholar, include "systematic review" in your search
This video demonstrates combining searches for a more focussed set of results.
Search Medline on the OVID platform using MeSH. Thanks to UBC Library for these videos. View the complete playlist for searching OVID Medline.
PubMed searching, from the National Library of Medicine. Some videos are interactive tutorials highlighting specific database features.
The following checklist activity is based on Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial, from MedlinePlus and the National Library of Medicine.
Click the arrows below to expand the description. Consider these criteria when determining the quality of health information you find online, and in the library's collection.
The short video below introduces the basics of referencing your sources in APA 7th edition.
Refer to this Quick Guide which highlights the new details for citing a book and journal article in APA.
For full details, visit the Library's APA citation guide.