Advanced searching through the COT ejournal platform

This document provides guidance on how to carry out an advanced search through the ejournal platform, accessible through the ‘Additional COT ejournals’ link on the Journal and ejournals web page http://www.cot.co.uk/journals-ejournals/journals-ejournals . Members can carry out a Google style search through this service to find electronic journal articles.

Articles searched are those the COT makes available full text

You will need to be logged in to the COT website https://www.cot.co.uk/ with your email and self-selected password to access the ejournal platform, carry out an advanced search.

N.B. The British Journal of Occupational Therapy (BJOT), The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT), The Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (AOTJ) and the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy should be searched individually through the publishers web pages accessible through the COT journals and ejournals page, please see the link above.

When to search the COT ejournal service

if you need a couple of articles and don’t want/ need to carry out a full/ comprehensive search if you need immediate access to just a couple of electronic articles quickly

This search option should not be used as a substitute for searching the main databases such as AMED, CINAHL, HMIC, Social Policy and Practice, PsycINFO etc.

How to access the advanced search optionPlease note that you need to search for, and access ejournals, via the ejournal platform accessible through the ‘Additional COT ejournals’ link on COT journals and ejournals web page. You cannot, for example carry out a Google search, identify an article in the Google results and access the article directly from Google. It’s necessary to follow the procedure below otherwise you won’t be authenticated to view the article – going via the COT website ‘authenticates’ you.

a) Close down any browsers you may have open (for example Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox) and close down any search engine sites that you may have open (for example Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask Jeeves)

b) Open a new browser (for example Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox)

c) Go to the BAOT/COT website at www.cot.org.uk and log in as a member (top right hand side of the screen using your email as the username and add the password you created). If you are already logged in, please log out and re-login again

d) Once you are logged in, navigate to ‘Library and publications’ (one of the black tabs near the top of the screen), and click on this tab

e) Choose ‘COT library’ (main screen, left hand menu bar)f) choose ‘Journals and ejournals’ (main screen, left hand menu bar)g) From the bulleted points on this page, choose the ejournal platform from the top link

Additional COT ejournals  h) you will then be taken away from the main COT website to the ejournal platformi) click the link on the green banner ‘search for ejournal articles’ (circled in blue in the

screenshot below)

j) You should then see the basic search screen. (The search history table will show with no searches completed. The search results list shows the number of articles available to you. Once you begin your search the search history table and the results list will be amended to reflect your searches and results)

k) Click the advanced search option (highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below to show the advanced search options)

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To create an advanced search1. Enter your main search term in the uppermost search box on the advanced search screen

2. You can then add an additional search term in one or both of the boxes below it

3. If desired, select the field you want to search from the drop down menu at the right hand side of each box (circled in red in the screenshot above). This enables you to narrow your search, for example if you select the abstract field , this will limit your search to those articles where the indicated word is included in the abstract

If you don’t make a selection and leave the option as ‘Select a field (optional)’ any term you enter in the search box will be searched for in any of the fields related to words

(Note: Selecting Title will employ the Boolean/Phrase search mode while selecting Author will employ the Find all my search terms search mode.)

4. Select from the available Search Options if desired:

Choose a discipline to search – it is possible to select a discipline area to search however this can significantly reduce the number of relevant articles you return. Suggested use: only as a last measure

Search modes – You can use specific search modes, such as “Find all of my search terms,” or “SmartText Searching,” or use search options that expand your search such as “Apply related words”

Limit your results – such as Full Text or Publication type

Click the Search button. The result list displays as shown in the screenshot below

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The search field is displayed above the Result List. To revise your search, you can type in another search term(s) and then combine the searches from the search history table (circled in blue in the screenshot below).

If you hover over the magnifying glass to the right side of the article title, this will allow you to view the article abstract if one is included.

Any articles that you have access to full text will be shown below the individual article references in the results list (highlighted in yellow in the screenshot above) just click on the Full Text Finder link.

You must ensure before adding any further search terms, or combining search terms, that the search box is empty (highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below). If the search box is not empty any terms remaining in this box will be automatically be applied to your next search or combination and this may negatively affect your results

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If at any time when using the COT ejournal platform, a yellow bar at the top of the webpage with the words Go to Full Text Finder Results loads (please see both screenshots below) – please wait a few moments to see if the journal article or webpage loads, rather than immediately clicking on the Go to Full Text Finder Results link (circled in blue in the screenshots below. If the article doesn’t load in a few seconds, then click Go to Full Text Finder Results and follow the links through to access the full text of the article.

This information sheet, and all the COT information sheets, can be found on the COT library information skills web page at: https://www.cot.co.uk/cot-library/information-skillsafter logging in to the COT website with your email and self-selected password.

References

EBSCO Publishing (2015) Full Text Finder: advanced search: guide style find fields. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO. Available at: http://support.epnet.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=7381

Accessed on 17.11.15

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