Use Citation Chaining When a Nursing Search Stalls
Citation chaining starts from a relevant paper and follows its references or later papers that cite it. It can reveal terminology and related studies missed by an initial database search. It should supplement a search, not become a way to collect only papers that agree.
Start with the task
Cochrane's searching chapter discusses searching beyond database queries.
Choose a defensible starting paper
Use a paper that addresses your assignment question and whose identity you have checked. Record why it is relevant before exploring its citation network.
Backward chaining examines the references it cites. Forward chaining examines later work that cites it, where the search service provides that function. A citation can signal criticism, background use, or a methodological connection; it is not an endorsement.
Keep the route visible
For an invented care-plan evidence question, your record might contain a seed paper, one earlier measurement study, and a later study using a different population. Write which route found each paper and why you chose to read it.
Check whether apparently different papers report the same underlying study. Do not count the original article, follow-up analysis, and review summary as three independent trials.
If the chain introduces a new term, take that term back to the database search. This helps avoid staying inside one research group's network.
Set an honest stopping point
Follow the assignment's scope. For an ordinary coursework search, record when and why you stopped; do not claim completeness solely because no new references appeared in one chain.
Before using a discovered paper in a rationale, read the actual result and its limitations. A source quoted by a trusted author can still be unsuitable for your case.
The source guide covers that next judgement. Attach the verified source to the relevant claim in Nursevi, rather than citing the chain as evidence of effectiveness.