Browsing the Headings
To find headings, select CINAHL Headings from the top menu OR check the Suggest Subject Terms box before running a keyword search.
The results will be a list of potentially appropriate headings. Sometimes there might be a direct suggestion for your keyword. You can also click on the Scope bubble for a short description. If nothing looks good, try searching for one of the other keywords you brainstormed instead!
Explode and Major Concept
If a term has the Explode box available, that means there are other terms nested under it. Click on the linked term for a tree view of the heading. Selecting Explode will look for the subject term you chose, plus any narrower terms underneath it.
Checking the Major Concept box will require the subject term is part of the main point of any articles returned. This is very helpful if you are getting a lot of results that are not relevant.
Subheadings
When you select a term using the checkbox on the left side of the results, a list of applicable subheadings will open. Subheadings are an excellent way to really refine your search results. Once you check a term it is added to the box on the right and will update as you make adjustments.
Using More Than One Heading
There are a couple reasons you may want to add additional terms to the same search.
If there are two or more different terms that would work for your topic, check both. Make sure the Combine selections with: radio button is set to OR. This will look for either one, the other or both.
If you need articles that combine different topics or narrow your broader topic, click Browse Additional Terms at the bottom of the screen, find your other term(s) and add those to your search. In this case, make sure the Combine selections with: radio button is set to AND. This will require both be present.
To combine heading searches with both OR and AND, you will need to run each headings search separately and then use the combine search function in Search History (more later in the guide).
Search Database
When you are done exploring the headings and ready to try the search, hit the big green Search Database button.