Introduction to evidence-based practice for the health sciences

Acquire: finding the evidence

Once you have a clearly defined question, the next step is to find evidence-based sources to support answering your search question. However, before you start searching, you should consider the following:

• What type of evidence are you looking for?
• Where should you search?
• Do you know how to search the database effectively to find the evidence you need?

The type of question you ask influences the level of evidence or study design you must find in your search and where you search for evidence. 

Accessing health and social care databases

Some databases are very broad and cover many different multidisciplinary areas across health and social care. Other databases are very focused on specific disciplines. You should search databases specific to your field to find relevant, high-quality, and evidence-based information. General search engines may provide outdated or unreliable sources, while specialty databases offer peer-reviewed studies, clinical guidelines, and systematic reviews tailored to your discipline. This ensures that you access the latest research, best practices, and clinically significant findings, to help you develop strong evidence-based practices. Searching specialised databases also improves research efficiency, reducing time spent filtering irrelevant information. By using discipline-specific sources, you can confidently apply credible and up-to-date knowledge to coursework, clinical placements, and future professional practice.

Use the links below to access the health and social care databases available via either via your discipline-specific library guide or UniSQ Library search. Each library guides contains resources that will show you how to search the databases relevant to your discipline.   

Click to access UniSQ's databases via the health libguides	Click to access UniSQ's databases via UniSQ Library Search