CINAHL Search Fields

Last update: 20 May 2011,
by Maureen Bell

The default fields for unqualified searches consist of the following: Title, Abstract and Subject headings.

The following list will help you locate detailed information using field tags.

Definitions of fields are listed separately

Searchable Tag	Description	Example
AA	Abstract Available Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the records have an abstract available.	AA Y
AB	Abstract Performs a keyword search of the abstract summaries.	AB Hospice
AF	Author Affiliation Performs a keyword search of the article's author affiliations.	AF Harvard Medical
AG	Age Group Searches for words within the age groups identified in a document.	AG Aged 80 and Over
AI	Literacy Level [Word Indexed] Searches for a specified literacy level.	AI Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level 9.6
AN	Accession Number Performs an exact search for an article's unique identificaton number.	AN 2000073285
AR	Author Phrase Performs an exact search for an article's author, in the format of last name, first name, and middle initial if available.	AR Smith C
AU	Author Performs a keyword search for any authors of an article.	AU Smith T
BG	Bibliography Searches fthe title and citation information of the bibliographic reference.	BG Ettinger WH
CA	Corporate Author Name of the corporate author if the document was not authored by individuals.	CA Nursing Society
CE	CE Indicator Y value searches for CINAHL Interactive CE.	CE Y
CF	Cochrane Record Flag Searches for records from the Cochrane Library.	CF Y
CH	Cochrane AN Searches for unique identifiers for records in the Cochrane Library.	CH "1 computer disk for IBM-PC or compatibles"
CN	Record Features List of features that are part of the specific record. Some records contain a searchable list of features within the record.	CN Table of Contents
CO	Contributor Lists individuals who contributed to a work, but who are not principal authors. Searches article in the format last name followed by one or more initials.	CO Brown G
CR	Commentary Citations for published comments or responses to this article.	CR Wardrope
CT	Check Tag CINAHL subject headings that specify particular aspects such as gender; values consist of the following: Gender - Male Female	CT Female
DE	Subject Performs an exact search of the heading descriptors listed in the records.	DE Dairy Products
DF	Description Field May contain information about the publication or describe a protocol standard or website.	DF Substance Abuse
DN	Dissertation Number Searches the exact Dissertation Order Number.	DN PB2003-103289
DT	Date of Publication Performs an exact search for the date of publication of an article into the database in YYYYMMDD format.	DT 20001012
ED	Editor Searches editor names in the format last name followed by one or more initials.	ED Moore K
EM	Entry Date Performs an exact search for the date of entry of an article into the database in YYYYMMDD format.	EM 20000401
FM	Format Full Text Performs an exact search for an article's type of full text. The searchable values and what they indicate are as follows: T - HTML Full Text C - Embedded Image in the Full Text P - PDF document	FM T
FR	References Available Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the articles contain references.	FR Y
FT	Full Text Available Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the records have full text available.	FT Y
GI	Grant Information Searches funding information including the institution(s), and grant number if available.	GI Red Cross
IB	ISBN Performs an exact search for a publication's International Standard Book Number; can be searched with or without the dash.	IB 0-323-00996-4 or IB 0323009964
IN	Instrumentation Searches words in the instrumentation field which includes statistical instruments discussed in an article.	IN depression scale
IP	Issue Performs an exact search for a publication's issue number.	IP 5
IR	Supplement Title Searches the words in the title of a journal supplement.	IR ACP Journal Club
IS	ISSN Performs an exact search for a publication's International Standard Serial Number; can be searched with or without the dash.	IS 0028-4793 or IS 00284793
IT	Supplement Title Searches words in a title of supplementary issue.	IT The Life You Save...
JN	Publication Performs an exact keyword search for the journal name of the article.	JN Academic Nurse
JT	Journal Title Abbreviation Searches words in the journal title abbreviation.	JT Acad Nurse
LA	Language Searches the language of publication of an article.	LA French
LE	Legal Searches for legal cases found in indexed materials. This field can list the names of the parties, court case number, and possibly the place, name of court, and the year.	LE Roe
MH	CINAHL Exact Subject Headings Searches the exact CINAHL Plus with Full Text subject heading; searches both major and minor headings. May use qualifier abbreviations (also captures tertiary headings) or spelled with formatted dashes (truncate to capture items with tertiary headings).	MH arm/su or MH arm--surgery*
MJ	CINAHL Word in Major Subject Headings Searches words in the major subject headings or core concepts, including subheading words or two letter subheading codes.	MJ resistance or MJ "EI"
MM	CINAHL Exact Major Subject Headings Searches the exact CINAHL Plus with Full Text subject heading as major concept of the Resistance--evaluation article. May use qualifier abbreviations (also captures tertiary headings) or spelled with formatted dashes (truncate to capture items with tertiary headings).	MM Drug Resistance/EV or MM Drug
MW	CINAHL Heading Word Searches words in a CINAHL Plus with Full Text Subject Heading; searches Major Headings, Minor Headings, and Keywords (Terms in Process), including subheading words or two letter subheading codes..	MW infections or MW "EV"
MX	Exclude MEDLINE PMID Excludes records that include the MEDLINE PMID. "Y" excludes the PMID records; "N" selects records with a PMID. Note: there is also an Exclude MEDLINE PMID checkbox limiter.	MX Y
NM	Name Searches words in the author, corporate author, named person, contributor, or editor fields.	NM Andersen GD
NP	Named Person Searches biography names for a person discussed in the source document in the format last name followed by one or more initials.	NP Curie M
NT	Notes Performs a keyword search for words within the notes and conference notes fields.	NT ADM
OS	Original Study Searches for words within the original study information, which may include author, title, and source. Accession numbers may be included to reference original articles.	OS Fiore LD, Ezekowitz MD
PB	Publisher Performs a keyword search of the article's publisher information.	PB Saunders
PD	Publication Date Searches the date as published in text format, i.e., month or season. See also the 'DT' tag.	PD 2000 Mar or PD 2000 Jul 31 or PD 2000 Fall
PF	Exclude Pre-CINAHL A search for PF Y will exclude all Pre-CINAHL content. A search for PF N will search only within Pre-CINAHL content.	PF Y or PF N
PG	Number of Pages Searches for the total number of pages.	PG 19
PM	MEDLINE PMID The National Library of Medicine's PubMED article identifier (PMID). Available when a CINAHL record has been matched to the same item as a MEDLINE record.	PM 2067948
PP	Pagination Searches first, last, or page range of an article. See also the 'SP' tag.	PP 12 or PP 19-23 or PP 23
PT	Publication Type Performs an exact search for a record's document type. Note: When searching the descriptive text of a publication type, it is necessary to use quotation marks if the description contains a Boolean operator (AND, OR, NOT), e.g. PT "Questions and Answers".	PT biography
PY	Publication Year Performs an exact search for the publication year of the article; can be used in date range searching.	PY 1977 or PY 2002-2004
RD	Revised Date Searches the last revision date in YYYYMMDD format.	RD 20010126
RF	Number of References References site at the end of the article in select nursing and allied health journals are included.	RF 4
RP	Report Number Searches for the report number.	RP Pamphlet G-142 or RP G-142
RV	Peer-Reviewed Performs an exact search for the value Y or N. Y indicates that the articles are peer-reviewed.	RV Y
RW	Review Searches for words within the information in the review field.	RW Health
SB	Journal Subset Searches the journal subset.	SB Biomedical
SC	Special Interest [Word Indexed] Searches the special interest current awareness categories. Note: When searching the descriptive text of a special interest category, it is necessary to use quotation marks if the description contains a Boolean operator (AND, OR, NOT), e.g. SC "Pain and Pain Management".	SC Sports Medicine
SE	Series Title Searches for words within the series title field.	SE Alcohol Alert
SI	Serial Identifier Searches the exact serial identifier or serial unique identifier number assigned by the NLM.	SI 18710610R
SO	Publication Name Performs a keyword search for the journal name	SO New Zealand
SP	Start Page Performs an exact search for an article's starting page number.	SP 117
ST	Series Title Searches for the exact series title for books, pamphlets and journals.	ST Public Health
SU	Subject Heading Performs a keyword search on all the subject fields in the record.	SU Phlebotomy
TC	Table of Contents The author, title of item, and pagination of journal articles or chapters indexed as part of an overall record.	TC Levy
TI	Title Searches keywords in a record's English and non-English title field.	TI Impairment
TX	All Text Performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields. Using the TX field code will cause the search to look for the keyword in the full text as well as the citation record.	TX Nursing
VI	Volume Performs an exact search for a publication's volume number.	VI 85
YR	Year of Publication Performs an exact search for the publication year of the article; can be used in date range searching.	YR 2002

Definitions of Fields

The following table explains the contents of each field in a CINAHL record's detailed display (not all fields are listed in every record).

Field name	Description
Title	The title of the article, pamphlet, chapter or book.
Author(s)	Personal author(s) name entered in format last name followed by one or more initials.
Corporate Author(s)	Name(s) of the corporate author(s) if the document was not authored by individuals.
Affiliation(s)	Institutional affiliation and geographical location of the primary author.
Contributor(s)	Contributor name(s) in the format of last name followed by one or more initials.
Editor(s)	Editor name(s) in the format of last name followed by one or more initials.
Source	Source information includes the full journal title, journal title abbreviation, date of publication, volume/issue, pagination, and number of references when available.
Series Title	The title of the series or collection of work for books, pamphlets, and journals.
Original Study	This may include author(s), title, and source. Accession numbers may be added to each reference to indicate if original article is indexed in the database.
Commentary	Lists the bibliographic details of articles commenting on or responding to this article.
Publication Type	Identification terms that describe the article type such as Journal Article, Bibliography, Book, etc.
Language	The language of publication of an article.
Major Subjects	Major subject headings that describe the content of an article.
Minor Subjects	Minor subject headings that describe the content of an article; check tags are included in this field and represent age and population groups.
Keywords	Terms in Process which are being considered for inclusion in the CINAHL Subject Headings Thesaurus.
Abstract	An English-language synopsis, or author abstract of the source document.
CE Module	Links to CINAHL server containing information and review material specific to the course topic and the test.
PDF Image	Provides a link to the Full Page article visible through Adobe PDF Reader.
Search Strategy	Displays the suggested Boolean search strategy, including limiter settings.
Named Person	The named person (biographee) who is the subject of biographical information, an obituary, or an entire article.
Journal Subset	Subsets of broad journal and pamphlet categories as specified by CINAHL Plus.
Special Interest	Specific categories of special interest which describe the content of an article.
Legal Case	The name(s) of legal cases found in indexed materials.
Instrumentation	Statistical research instruments used in research studies; names of clinical assessment tools may also appear in this field.
Review	Bibliographic information including author, journal, date, etc. of reviews on the document.
ISBN	The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for the book cited in the article.
ISSN	The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for the journal in which an article was published.
MEDLINE Info	This field contains information such as the MEDLINE PMID, NLM Serial ID and NLM UID.
CINAHL Document Delivery	URL of PDF journals available at the CINAHL Plus website.
Direct URL	This field contains a permanent link to a CINAHL Plus table that will forward the user to the specific article site.
Cochrane AN	Accession number assigned to the record in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Document Number	Report number or UMI Order number.
Publisher info	May include extended source info for non-journal materials. Publisher name or Source agency, or Legal Case name. May also contain a publisher URL, a permanent link to a CINAHL Plus table that will send user to the journal or publisher homepage.
Literacy Level	Indicates the readability level of consumer documents in full text.
Grant Information	Contains funding information, including the institution(s) and grant number, if any.
Related Websites	Websites mentioned in the article; a brief description of the site may also be listed, for example, "http://www.webmd.com WebMD".
Note	Used in Journal Descriptions records for inactive titles to note historical details, e.g., for ceased publications, name changes, etc. Used in book records to give details about publisher history. Used in journal articles to indicate articles published in multiple journals. May also contain audiovisual and software details.
Entry Date	The issue (year and month) in which a document was added to the CINAHL Plus database in YYYYMM or YYYYMMDD format.
Revised Date	Indicates the date a record was revised in YYYYMMDD format.
Accession Number	A unique number assigned by CINAHL Plus to identify each document.