Library Resources for MSN Students: Primary theory sources

CINAHL is the Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature. It can be a great resource for theory-related literature. To search for primary sources, do the following:

Step 1: Change the default settings in CINAHL. Uncheck Suggest Subject Terms above the search bar. Select Boolean/Phrase. Uncheck the expanders (apply related words, also search within the full text, and apply equivalent subjects).

Step 2: Type in the name of the theory you're using. Then, click Search.

Note: Remember to use double quotation marks if your theory has more than word!

Step 3: On the results page, click the word Edit in the Search History box. A pop-up window will appear. Scroll down in the window until you see an Author field. Type the name of your theorist into that field. Click Save.

Step 4: In the same Search History box, click on View Results. This will refresh the results page to show the Author as your theorist.

The results that will populate will be written by your theorist, and will have the name of the theory. You may need to look closely at the results to find the source. A good tip is to avoid sources that use language like "validation of" or "test of" because these are sources that are based on the existing theory. You're probably looking for the source where the theory is originally described, so pay close attention to the titles and abstracts of the results.

Scopus is a broad, scientific database. In addition to allowing you to search by keyword, it also allows you to search by author. This is my favorite way to find primary sources from authors.

Step 1: From the Scopus homepage, click on Authors. Type the last name of your theorist into the first box. You can type the first initial, full first name, or two initials into the second box. If your theorist has an uncommon last name, you can even leave the second box blank. Click search.

Step 2: This will take you to the author results page. Locate your theorist in the list of results, then click their name.

Step 3: On the author record page, scroll down to locate documents written by your selected theorist. You can either continue scrolling in this view, or, if you prefer, you can click on View as Results Page, and you can see the documents in a results page view.

Step 4: All of these sources will be considered primary because they were written by your theorist. To find the foundational or source of the theory, pay attention to the title, as well as the Cited By numbers. The higher the Cited By numbers, the higher the likelihood that you have located the foundational source. You can sort by Cited By (highest) to look at the record that has had the most citations.

Google Scholar provides a straightforward path to locating primary sources written by your chosen theorist.

Step 1: From the Google Scholar main page, locate the menu with three lines in the left sidebar. Click on Advanced Search. This will open a pop-up window.

Step 2: In the top box, type your theory. Remember to use double quotation marks if your theory has more than one word. Then, locate the box labeled "Return articles authored by." In that box, type your theorist's name, following the format provided by Google. Click Search.

The results that will populate will be written by your theorist, and will have the name of the theory. You may need to look closely at the results to find the source. A good tip is to avoid sources that use language like "validation of" or "test of" because these are sources that are based on the existing theory. You're probably looking for the source where the theory is originally described, so pay close attention to the titles and abstracts of the results.