Research Tools & Instruments Guide

Finding Reviews and Validation Sources

1. In the Library

Option 1: Research instrument records

These are NOT scholarly articles, but describe standardized research instruments by providing:

• a description
• validation information
• directions on how to obtain a copy of the instrument 

On the advanced search page

• Scroll down to Publication Type (under limit your results)
• Select Research Instrument
• Hit Search to retrieve ALL research instruments documents in the CINAHL database

OR

• Scroll down to Publication Type (under limit your results)
• Select Research Instrument
• Do a keyword search on your topic in the search boxes, to retrieve research instrument documents 

Option 2: Projects that use instruments

• Use the IN (Instrumentation) limiter (by choosing it from the dropdown menu next to the search boxes)
• searches the database for statistical instruments that are discussed in  a scholarly journal article or used for the research instrument
• IN must be chosen in order to be searched – otherwise only content that cites or mentions an instrument will be returned in results 
• Select a Field searching will NOT search for instruments used in the article

Dissertations and theses often include copies and details of the instruments  in the appendices

• the dissertation will not indicate the copyright status of the instrument. 
• you will need to independently determine copyright status and obtain permission to use the instrument. 
• the appendices often contain contact information for the copyright holders.

 On the advanced search page

• Do a keyword search on your topic
• Open the dissertation(s) full text and scroll to the table of contents and locate the Appendices section for information about the research instrument 

2. Open Access Sources