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Belzberg Library welcomes students in the Semester in Dialogue to SFU Vancouver. This guide will help you to use our library to find and evaluate research material for your projects. If you have any further questions about library services, please Ask a Librarian!
Research sources
Library research involves selecting your topic, identifying the best sources and appropriate research tools, accessing the items found, and evaluating your results. Start Your Research Here is a brief guide that will help you with this process.
Start your hunt for information "at home" by visiting the SFU Library home page. This gathers all the best research tools, guides, and research help in one place. Try our Library Search engine from the home page to quickly find books, articles and information on the library website in one search.
Books, articles and web sites on your course reading list or course outline can also provide a good starting point, particularly if the items include bibliographies, references or links to related material.
Books
Search the catalogue to find books, reports, and media materials in the SFU Library at all three campuses (Belzberg - Vancouver; Bennett - Burnaby; Fraser - Surrey).
Searching by KEYWORD is the best way to start. Once you have found good results with your keyword searches, use the subjects on those items to focus your search.
Try the following SUBJECT headings: (To search for books by subject heading, use the Browse Search option in the SFU Library Catalogue, then select Subject browse from the drop-down menu.)
- Bioethics
- Child health services
- Community health services
- Disability
- Health services accessibility
- Health services administration
- Medical care
- Medical economics
- Medical ethics
- Medical policy
- Medicine, Preventive
- Mental health services
- Minorities -- Medical care
- Indigenous peoples -- Medical care
- Older people -- Medical care
- Poor -- Medical care
- Prenatal care
- Public health
- System theory
- Substance abuse
Limit your search to physical items at Belzberg Library by selecting Belzberg Library (Vancouver) from the catalogue search under the Library section.
If the item is not available at Belzberg Library, or is out on loan, please request it! Find electronic books, films, dvds, cds or slides on your topic by changing the Resource Type in the catalogue.
For a step-by-step interactive guide to searching the SFU catalogue, see the SFU Library Catalogue Search Guide.
Journal articles and databases
All print and electronic journals subscribed to by the SFU Library are listed in the Catalogue. You can look up journals by title and search for articles in them.
Suggested journals for health and wellness
Aboriginal Health and Wellness Plan
International Journal for Quality in Health Care
The International Journal of Health Planning and Management
International Journal of Men's Health
The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics
Journal of Public Health Policy
Connect to Article databases to find articles in academic journals, trade magazines, reports and newspapers, as well as financial and statistical data. Many databases provide online access to the full text of the articles or allow you to directly request copies of articles.
Suggested article databases for health and wellness
Academic Search Premier
Multidisciplinary index to academic and popular journals.
Ageline
Abstracts and articles related to social gerontology, with a focus on the social, psychological, and economic aspects of middle age and aging.
Business Source Complete
Business and economic aspects of public policy issues, including health policy.
Canadian Newsstream
Full text of major Canadian newspapers and Canwest's small market BC papers.
Canadian Electronic Library
Canadian health and public policy documents. Covers Canadian Health Research, Canadian Public Policy documents, and fiction and non-fiction e-books from Canadian publishers.
CBCA Complete
Multidisciplinary index to Canadian journals and magazines. Includes Statistics Canada's Health reports from 1998-present.
CINAHL Complete
Includes articles and abstracts related to gerontology, global health, health policy and more.
DSM-V: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The official diagnostic tool used by health care professionals all over the world.
Geobase
Covers human and physical geography, including health policy.
Ipsos News Center
Polls, public opinion and research information on international topics including health.
Native Health Databases
Abstracts of health-related articles, reports, and surveys pertaining to the health and health care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations.
Philosopher's Index
All aspects of philosophy, including issues such as medical ethics, bioethics, end of life and informed consent.
PsycInfo
Psychology and psychological aspects of health issues and ethics.
Medline
Comprehensive coverage of international biomedical and health literature.
Sociological Abstracts
Sociological aspects of health care provision.
Web of Science
Excellent multidisciplinary source. Indexes thousands of social science and humanities journals in addition to science journals. Other features include cited reference searches and personal alerts.
Try using the same subject terms as suggested for books. You can also check the thesaurus or list of subject terms within the database. For help with searching databases, check Finding Journal Articles and/or Moving From Citation to Article.
For books and articles not online or at SFU, request an Interlibrary Loan.
Statistics and government sources
British Columbia Ministry of Health Services
Information about health issues and BC's provincial health care system. Browse or search for reports and publications.
BC Health Authorities
Links to the five authorities that govern, plan and coordinate BC's health care services.
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
A federal resource designed to provide information on substance abuse and addiction.
Canadian Research Index
Lists all depository publications of research value issued by the Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments.
Health Canada
Federal department responsible for Canada's health care system, including legislation and guidelines, and administering the Canada Health Act.
Public Health Agency of Canada
Includes links to health information for specific populations, such as Aboriginal Peoples and Seniors.
Statistics Canada. Health
Gateway to Statistics Canada information on health care in Canada. Subtopics include mental health and well-being, life expectancy and deaths, and pregnancy and births. Also includes reports on health indicators, which measure the health of the Canadian population and the effectiveness of the health care system.
Statistics Canada. Health Reports
Peer-reviewed journal of population health and health services research.
Vancouver Coastal Health
Responsible for health service delivery in Vancouver, including Vancouver Community health services.
World Health Organization
Directs and coordinates authority for health within the United Nations system. Links to publications, data & statistics, as well as health topics that include child health, adolescent health, aging, pregnancy, substance abuse, and mental health.
Selected internet sources
Governments, research institutes, non-profit organizations, industry and other associations and companies all have web sites - many with publications freely available. Use a web search engine such as Google or Google Scholar to find additional information, including the web sites of interest groups and other organizations. Check the library's Internet Research guide for additional help in finding and evaluating web sites.
Useful sites for health issues and ethics
Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
Funds and promotes health care research on topics such as mental health and aging populations.
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
Provides data and analysis on Canada's health system and the health of Canadians.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canada's premier health research funding agency. Links to research highlights as well as publications and resources specifically for ethics.
Canadian Medical Association
Association providing leadership and guidance to physicians. Look for topics in the advanced search function.
Canadian Mental Health Association
Promotes mental health through advocacy, education, research and service.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
"CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues."
Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR)
UBC research institute that includes many policy publications.
Institute for Health and Social Policy
Addresses a wide range of health and social policy issues including childhood.
Institute of Health Economics
Alberta based organization that provides economic evaluations of health policy and practice in areas such as mental health, addictions, aboriginal health, maternal and child health, women's health, elderly/aging health.
SFU Faculty of Health Sciences
Focuses on population and public health and includes the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions and the Children's Health Policy Centre.
Research guides for related subjects
Subject Research guides are produced by SFU liaison librarians to point you to the best external sources as well as providing information about publications available in the library. Try these guides for further suggestions:
- Dialogue
- Economics
- First Nations
- Gerontology
- Government Resources
- Health Sciences
- News
- Public Policy
- Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
Writing and citing
University Reading and Writing
Lists sources in the library that will help you write better papers, or check out Writing for University and the writing hand-outs from the Student Learning Commons.
Writing and Style Guides
Will tell you how to cite your sources properly.
Plagiarism
Will tell you what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. Take the interactive tutorial Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism to test yourself and learn more.
Citation or reference management tools
Collect your journal article, book, or other document citations together in one place, and help you create properly formatted bibliographies in almost any style — in seconds. Citation management tools help you keep track of your sources while you work and store your references for future use and reuse.
Ask us!
- If you would like any further assistance or information about the library or your research, don't hesitate to Ask a Librarian in person, by phone, email or interactive reference.