Research Guides: *Optometry: Get Started

Reference and Instruction Librarian; Associate Professor

Karen Alcorn

She / Her / Hers

Email Me

Contact:

10 Lincoln Square
Room 211B
Worcester, MA 01608

508-373-5795

Subjects: Nursing, Optometry, Physical Therapy

Welcome

Welcome to the Optometry Research Guide! The Optometry Research Guide is a mini-universe of resources designed to support your academic work in optometry so you can quickly access the resources you need.

If you don't find what you're looking for or have any questions, contact your librarian!

What Do You Need To Do?

Learn to Search: Refresh your research skills and learn tips and tricks on how to search effectively
Find Sources: Find resources we recommend for optometry
Evaluate Sources: Learn how to evaluate your search results and the sources you choose to use
Cite & Organize Sources: Cite and organize your sources
Associations & Licensure: View information on optometry associations and licensure resources

Best Bets

Need to get started fast? The following are some of our best bets, or most frequently used resources in optometry.

PubMed (MCPHS link)
PubMed includes Medline. You do not need to search both PubMed and Medline (via Ovid).
Provided by the National Library of Medicine, this free database includes access to Medline, citations to other life sciences journals not indexed in Medline (primarily general sciences and chemistry), and links to the molecular biology databases maintained by National Center for Biotechnology Center (NCBI). Read free articles. Use Get Full Text (MCPHS) for articles that are not free.
Medline (via Ovid)
PubMed includes Medline. You do not need to search both PubMed and Medline (via Ovid).
Bibliographic database of over 21 million citations to the literature of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, allied health, pre-clinical sciences, biomedicine, and health care; International in scope; Abstracts included in 75% of the records; (mid 1960's+) Hint: Search both Embase and Medline to improve drug topic results. No additional username or password needed unless you want to save a search! Also available through PubMed.
CINAHL with Full Text
Literature related to nursing and allied health; also consumer health, biomedicine, and health sciences librarianship; indexes over 2900 journals; also provides access to healthcare books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of professional practice, educational software and AV materials in nursing, the Pre-CINAHL dataset, and more. (1981 +). Full Text to over 600 nursing and allied health journals!! Free to MCPHS users access through a mobile device.
*Unlimited users
Cochrane Library
The Cochrane Library is a collection of three databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, and tool you can use to get quick answers to clinical questions.
Includes: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) – Cochrane Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) – Clinical Trials, Epistemonikos - "Other Reviews," Clinical Answers.
Scopus
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed research literature with more than 20,500 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers. Scopus offers researchers a quick, easy and comprehensive resource to support their research needs in the scientific, technical, medical and social sciences fields and arts and humanities. Limited full-text available. [Free to MCPHS users download mobile app for your mobile device.]
Google Scholar (MCPHS Link)
Access our electronic journals through links in the Google Scholar search results pages from both on-campus and off-campus. Click the Get Full Text (MCPHS) button to see if we have the full-text article or you can request it through interlibrary loan.
This link now automatically shows MCPHS's "Get Full Text" links to connect you to library content.
You can also set GoogleScholar up to work with a citation manager:
•Go to https://scholar.google.com. •Depending on your screen size, you may need to click More. •Click on Settings. •Scroll down to Bibliography Manager. Select Show links to import citations into .... •Choose the citation manager you use. •Save your changes.