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Physical Therapy: Articles

Need Help?

 

Need research help and not sure where to turn? Get help from the library via email, chat, and online appointments or stop by one of our reference desks during open hours of operation. 

Want to contact your Nursing & Health Sciences Librarian or set up a virtual or F2F appointment with her? Email Debra Smith: smithkak@cod.edu

Search for Articles & E-Resources

Use the Library's subscription databases to locate journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.

Looking for a particular journal or magazine? Use our journal locator.

All Databases · Advanced Search

Research Tips

Not familiar with researching for professional or evidence-based health information? Ask COD Library Reference Staff for help or take a look at these useful resources:

Database (and Library catalog) Advanced Search Tips

  • Use the features of the database (print, navigation) before using your browser's back or print buttons
  • For keyword searching, use the advanced search feature so that you can use multiple terms and set limits (date range, peer-reviewed, full text, etc)
  • Remember that databases require you to spell correctly
  • To limit your search results to journals with editorial boards (or some type of review process by health professionals) look under the “limit” section of the initial search page. Select the option to limit to peer reviewed (some databases also call them refereed publications). Refereed publications and peer reviewed are synonyms for board-reviewed or scholarly journals. Don’t forget to set your date limits too!
  • When creating your search strategy, take a moment to write down your key words and any synonyms (alternative words meaning the same thing) that might be used. Also think about how you connect your key words together.
    • Connect different concepts with the word AND indicating that you want both concepts to appear in each retrieved article.
    • Connect variations (different words could be used for the same thing) with OR indicating that at least one variation should occur in the articles retrieved.
    • Put parentheses around actions that you want to be done first (just like you may have done in an algebra class).
    • Here are some examples of synonyms and “nesting” (using parentheses):
    • ("physical therap*" OR rehabilit*)
    • ("water therap*" OR hydrotherapy)
    • Put the key concepts together like this example:
      ("physical therap*" OR rehabilit*) AND ("water therap*" OR hydrotherapy)
  • capitalize connecting words (AND, OR) to let the database know that you are giving a command, not just listing a word to be found
  • Use an asterisk (*) to find all possible endings. For example, therap* finds therapy, therapies, therapeutic
Look below for recommended article databases!

Requesting Articles

If you find a citation for an article that you'd like, but no full-text is available (or you're being asked to pay for the article)...

Follow the steps below: 

  1. Start by searching the journal name (NOT the article title) Journal Locator.
  2. If the result indicates that the journal is available in a COD database, click on the database link and search by article title. 
  3. If there are no relevant results, go to InterLibrary Loan forms.   
  4. Fill out the Article form.  In about 3-5 business days, an electronic copy of the article will be delivered to your email.

Recommended Databases

Curious where to start searching for PT-related journal articles? Browse this A-Z list of Physical Therapy Journals to identify "best bet" databases!

View all of the COD Library's Health & Medicine Databases

  • URL: https://library.cod.edu/pt
  • Last Updated: Mar 15, 2024 11:13 AM
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