Midwifery is an evidence-based profession, therefore you need good quality evidence in your assignments.
This means you:
You must include facts and evidence and provide a valid reference.
Where will you find this evidence?
Try to use the Library resources as much as possible and don't rely on Google
Books can provide an overview of a topic and often include key facts, theories and models.
They can be good for getting to grips with a new topic.
Finding books via the library
Use Library Search to find print books and e-books
The Search Guide provides an overview of locating books via Library Search.
The web is full of useful information but it can be hard to work out what is reliable academic information.
Make sure you evaluate everything you use. The Evaluating Websites section of the Information Skills guide might help.
Also don't just rely on Google for all of the information. Make use of library resources such as books and journal articles.
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) website includes lots of high quality resources including Guidelines and the British National Formulary.
Statistical Data
Searching for reliable health statistics online can be problematic and you don't always know where the information has come from. Always try and find the original source of any statistics you use.
Use the Online Resources section of this guide for links to websites containing statistical data.
Academic Journals are basically academic magazines. They tend to explore topics in more detail and contain and highlight current research and issues.
They are published periodically e.g. weekly/monthly. and contain a series of articles in each issue. You will often see that journal articles have a volume and issue number which you can use in the reference.
Why should you use journal articles?
Unlike popular magazines, journals are written by and for experts in their chosen field and are used as a means for academics and researchers to share their research findings.
Because of this level of authority and credibility they are a good source of evidence for your assignments and lecturers will expect to see you referencing them.
The best way to search for journal articles is through a database such as CINAHL Plus.
The Library has other databases available, see the Databases tab of this guide for more.
Tips on using databases to find journal articles
Keywords
Think of keywords and synonyms that describe your question/topic.
Don't just use your assignment title.
Example
Question: How can the midwife improve communication in interprofessional teams?
Synonyms or related terms for our question could include:
How do I then search for these keywords in a Database like CINAHL Plus?
You can use OR and AND between your keywords to broaden (OR) and narrow (AND) your search.
Example again: How can the midwife improve communication in interprofessional teams?
Our keyword search could be:
midwife OR midwives OR midwifery OR maternity
AND
communication OR communications OR communicating OR communicate
AND
Interprofessional teams OR cross-disciplinary teams OR cross-professional teams OR multi-professional teams
This is how our search looks in the CINAHL Plus database:
