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Research Databases

Produced by the Web of Science Group,  BIOSIS Previews ®  an expansive index to life sciences and biomedical research from journals, meetings, books, and patents. The database covers pre-clinical and experimental research, methods and instrumentation, animal studies, and more. Includes BIOSIS indexing and enhanced MeSH disease terms.

This collection is an essential source of high-quality health care data, not only useful for providers and patients, but also for those responsible for researching, teaching, funding and administrating at all levels of the medical profession.

Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source is the definitive full-text research database for dental practitioners and researchers. It offers top dental and oral sciences journals commonly purchased by dental schools and related institutions.

Food Science Source is an extensive full-text database designed to support the research needs of the food industry. It provides hundreds of full-text journals, monographs, magazines and trade publications, plus a wealth of food industry and market reports. Subjects include food processing, safety, service, shipping and innovation. 

GIDEON (Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network) provides a current, evidence-based resource for diagnosis, treatment and teaching in the fields of tropical and infectious diseases, epidemiology and microbiology.

Produced by CABI, this database was created to ensure that key literature from all sources can be brought to the attention of those working in public health. The database covers all aspects of public health at both international and community levels, as well as a wealth of material from other biomedical and life science fields.

Produced by the Web of Science Group, this comprehensive database provides indexing and abstracts for pharmaceutical and medical journals published worldwide. It is essential to anyone interested in keeping abreast of today's health-related drug literature.

Physicians around the world use Isabel to help construct or broaden a differential diagnosis. By entering the information normally captured in a patient workup, Isabel provides physicians with a list of possible diagnoses to help them construct their thinking and make an accurate final diagnosis quickly and easily at the point of care.

MEDLINE with Full Text is a robust database providing full text for hundreds of top biomedical and health journals indexed in MEDLINE. Many journals are available with no embargo, so doctors, nurses, health professionals and researchers can access information as soon as it is published.

This database focuses on alternative and holistic approaches to health care and wellness. Designed for consumer health researchers and clinicians,  Natural & Alternative Treatments  is an essential tool that satisfies an ever-growing demand for accurate, unbiased natural health information.

A nurse’s time is a prized commodity, and in order to provide the best care possible, they need to quickly find the right answers to their clinical questions every time. With Nursing Reference Center Plus, an evidence-based information resource designed by nurses for nurses, users can do just that. Unmatched in scope, nurses turn to Nursing Reference Center Plus for all their practice, education and research needs.

This database is the world's largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. Produced by the American Psychological Association, it is an indispensable tool for the discovery of global scholarly research.

Created for sports medicine and physical therapy students and researchers, Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Source offers full-text sports medicine and rehabilitation journals, trade publications and magazines.

Ideal for students and teachers of anatomy, physiology, biology and other life sciences, Scientific & Medical ART Imagebase (SMART Imagebase) contains downloadable medical illustrations, animations and interactive multimedia.

SPORTDiscus with Full text is the definitive database for sports and sports medicine research. Providing hundreds of full-text sports medicine journals, it is an essential tool for health professionals and researchers studying fitness, health and sports. 

Produced by ViDALGroup, ViDAL Consult improves patients’ safety by offering the most complete access to Spanish-language drug information related to reference clinical content within a single interface.

MEDLINE Complete is a leading full-text database of biomedical and health journals, providing full text for thousands of top medical journals with cover-to-cover indexing. It is an essential research tool for doctors, nurses, health professionals and researchers.

With CINAHL Complete, users get fast and easy full-text access to top nursing journals, evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons and more. Take a few minutes to evaluate all that CINAHL Complete has to offer and you’ll see why hundreds of thousands of nurses and allied health professionals rely on this essential resource.

eBook Collections

Simplify the research process for nursing staff and students with this curated e-book collection designed for use in hospitals, medical institutions and academic institutions. From clinical guides and evidence-based practice manuals, to practical handbooks and professional growth titles, this collection provides researchers the information they need to provide outstanding care.

Offer clinicians and students unlimited, anytime access to essential medical e-books. This subscription collection features thousands of hand-selected e-books designed for use in clinical settings, biomedical libraries and academic-medical institutions.

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MEDLINE Overview

MEDLINE is the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) premier bibliographic database that contains more than 31 million references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine.

MEDLINE is a primary component of PubMed , a literature database developed and maintained by the NLM National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). MEDLINE is the online counterpart to the MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS) that originated in 1964 (see MEDLINE history ). A distinctive feature of MEDLINE is that the records are indexed with NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

Selection process:  The current procedure for adding new journals to MEDLINE is described on the page How to Include a Journal in MEDLINE . Time coverage:  MEDLINE includes literature published from 1966 to present, and selected coverage of literature prior to that period. For details about pre-1966 citations see OLDMEDLINE Data .

Source:  Currently, citations from more than 5,200 worldwide journals in about 40 languages.

Updates:  Citations are added to PubMed 7 days a week.

Subject coverage:  In line with the Collection and Preservation Policy of the NLM , the subject scope of MEDLINE is biomedicine and health, broadly defined to encompass those areas of the life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering needed by health professionals and others engaged in basic research and clinical care, public health, health policy development, or related educational activities. MEDLINE also covers life sciences vital to biomedical practitioners, researchers, and educators, including aspects of biology, environmental science, marine biology, plant and animal science as well as biophysics and chemistry.

The majority of the publications in MEDLINE are scholarly journals; however, a small number of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters considered useful to particular segments of the NLM broad user community have historically been included.

Availability: Searching MEDLINE via PubMed results in a list of citations (including authors, title, source, and often an abstract) to journal articles and links to the electronic full-text, if available. Searching PubMed is free of charge and does not require registration.

A growing number of MEDLINE citations in PubMed contain a link to the free full-text of the article archived in PubMed Central . Some MEDLINE citations also have publisher-provided links to the full-text of the article at the journal website; exact details depend on the publisher's access requirements.

PubMed data, including MEDLINE, can be downloaded as described on the Download PubMed Data page.

Last Reviewed: February 5, 2024

Reference management. Clean and simple.

The top list of research databases for medicine and healthcare

3. Cochrane Library

4. pubmed central (pmc), 5. uptodate, frequently asked questions about research databases for medicine and healthcare, related articles.

Web of Science and Scopus are interdisciplinary research databases and have a broad scope. For biomedical research, medicine, and healthcare there are a couple of outstanding academic databases that provide true value in your daily research.

Scholarly databases can help you find scientific articles, research papers , conference proceedings, reviews and much more. We have compiled a list of the top 5 research databases with a special focus on healthcare and medicine.

PubMed is the number one source for medical and healthcare research. It is hosted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and provides bibliographic information including abstracts and links to the full text publisher websites for more than 28 million articles.

• Coverage: around 35 million items
• Abstracts: ✔
• Related articles: ✔
• References: ✘
• Cited by: ✘
• Links to full text: ✔
• Export formats: XML, NBIB

Pro tip: Use a reference manager like Paperpile to keep track of all your sources. Paperpile integrates with PubMed and many popular databases. You can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons and later cite them in thousands of citation styles:

EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database) is a proprietary research database that also includes PubMed. It can also be accessed by other database providers such as Ovid .

• Coverage: 38 million articles
• References: ✔
• Cited by: ✔
• Full text: ✔ (requires institutional subscription to EMBASE and individual publishers)
• Export formats: RIS

The Cochrane Library is best know for its systematic reviews. There are 53 review groups around the world that ensure that the published reviews are of high-quality and evidence based. Articles are updated over time to reflect new research.

• Coverage: several thousand high quality reviews
• Full text: ✔
• Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

PubMed Central is the free, open access branch of PubMed. It includes full-text versions for all indexed papers. You might also want to check out its sister site Europe PMC .

• Coverage: more than 8 million articles
• Export formats: APA, MLA, AMA, RIS, NBIB

Like the Cochrane Library, UpToDate provides detailed reviews for clinical topics. Reviews are constantly updated to provide an up-to-date view.

• Coverage: several thousand articles from over 420 peer-reviewed journals
• Related articles: ✘
• Full text: ✔ (requires institutional subscription)
• Export formats: ✘

PubMed is the number one source for medical and healthcare research. It is hosted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and provides bibliographic information including abstracts and links to the full text publisher websites for more than 35 million items.

EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database) is a proprietary research database that also includes in its corpus PubMed. It can also be accessed by other database providers such as Ovid.

Systematic Reviews: Medical Literature Databases to search

• Types of literature review, methods, & resources
• Protocol and registration
• Search strategy
• Medical Literature Databases to search
• Study selection and appraisal
• Data Extraction/Coding/Study characteristics/Results
• Reporting the quality/risk of bias
• Manage citations using RefWorks This link opens in a new window
• GW Box file storage for PDF's This link opens in a new window

How to document your literature search

You should always  document how you have searched each database, what keywords or index terms were used, the date on which the search was performed, how many results you retrieved, and if you use RefWorks to deduplicate results record how many were removed as duplicates and the final number of discrete studies you subjected to your first sift through of study selection.  Here is an example of how to document a literature search on an Excel spreadsheet , this example records a search of the hematology literature for articles about sickle cell disease. Here is another example of  how to document a literature search, this time on one page of a Word document , this example records a search of the medical literature for a poster on Emergency Department throughput.  The numbers recorded can then be used to populate the PRISMA flow diagram summarizing the literature search.

In the final report add as an appendix the full electronic search strategy for each database searched for the literature review e.g. MEDLINE with MeSH terms, keywords & limits

In the final report in the methods section:

PRISMA checklist Item 7 information sources will be reported as:

• What databases/websites you searched, the name of the database search platform and the start/end dates the index covers if relevant e.g. OVID MEDLINE (1950-present, or just PubMed
• Who developed & conducted the searches
• Date each database/website was last searched
• Supplementary sources - what other websites did you search? What journal titles were hand searched, whether reference lists were checked, what trial registries or regulatory agency websites were searched, were manufacturers or other authors contacted to obtain unpublished or missing information on study methods or results.

PRISMA checklist Item 8 search will be reported as:

• In text: describe the principal keywords used to search databases, websites & trials registers

What databases/indexes should you search?

At a minimum you need to search MEDLINE ,  EMBASE , and the  Cochrane CENTRAL  trials register .  This is the recommendation of three medical and public health research organizations: the U.S.  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ( AHRQ ), the U.K. Centre for Reviews and Dissemination ( CRD ), and the International Cochrane Collaboration (Source:  Institute of Medicine (2011) Finding What Works in Healthcare: Standards for Systematic Reviews  Table E-1, page 267).  Some databases have an alternate version, linked in parentheses below, that search the same records sets, ie the content of MEDLINE is in PubMed and Scopus, while the content of EMBASE is in Scopus. You should reformat your search for each database as appropriate, contact your librarian if you want help on how to search each database.  

Begin by searching:

1.        MEDLINE  (or  PubMed )

2.       EMBASE (or  Scopus )  Please note Himmelfarb Library does not have a subscription to EMBASE. The content is in the Scopus  database that you can search using keywords, but it is not possible to perform an EMTREE theasaurus search in Scopus.

3.        Cochrane Central Trials Register  (or  Cochrane Library ). In addition Cochrane researchers recommend you search the clinicaltrials.gov and ICTRP clinical trial registries due to the low sensitivity of the Cochrane CENTRAL index because according to Hunter et al (2022) "register records as they appear in CENTRAL are less comprehensive than the original register entry, and thus are at a greater risk than other systems of being missed in a search."

The Polyglot Search Translator is a very useful tool for translating search strings from PubMed or Medline via Ovid across multiple databases, developed by the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare at Bond University. But please note Polyglot does not automatically map subject terms across databases (e.g. MeSH terms to Emtree terms) so you will need to manually edit the search syntax in a text editor to change to the actual subject terms used by another database.

The Yale Mesh Analyzer is another very useful tool you can copy and paste in a list of up to 20 PMID numbers for records in the PubMed database, the Yale Mesh Analyzer will then display the Mesh Medical Subject Headings for those 20 articles as a table so you can identify and compare what Mesh headings they have in common, this can suggest additional search terms for your PubMed search.

The MedSyntax tool is another useful tool, for parsing out very long searches with many levels of brackets. This would be useful if you are trying to edit a pre-existing search strategy with many levels of parentheses.

Some sources for pre-existing database search filters or "hedges" include:

• CADTH Search Filters Database ,
• McMaster University Health Information Research Unit ,
• University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination InterTASC Information Specialists' Sub-Group ,
• InterTASC Population Specific search filters  (particularly useful for identifying Latinx, Indigenous people's, LGBTQ, Black & Minority ethnic)
• CareSearch Palliative Care PubMed search filters  (bereavement, dementia, heart failure, lung cancer, cost of care, and Palliative Care)
• Low and Middle Income countries filter at https://epoc.cochrane.org/lmic-filters . 
• Search Pubmed for another validated search filter using some variation of a search like this, possibly adding your discipline or search topic keywords: ("Databases, Bibliographic"[Mesh] OR "Search Engine"[Mesh]) AND ("Reproducibility of Results"[Mesh] OR "Sensitivity and Specificity"[Mesh] OR validat*) AND (filter OR hedge) .
• Search MEDLINE (or PubMed), preferably using a peer reviewed search strategy per protocol and apply any relevant methodology filters.
• Search EMBASE (or Scopus) and the Cochrane Central trials register using appropriately reformatted search versions for those databases, and any other online resources. 
• You should also search other subject specific databases that index the literature in your field.  Use our Himmelfarb Library  research guides  to identify other  subject specific databases . 
• Save citations in Covidence to deduplicate citations prior to screening.
• After screening export citations to  RefWorks database when you are ready to write up your manuscript. The Covidence and Refworks databases should be shared with all members of the investigative team.

Supplementary resources to search

Other member of your investigative team may have ideas about databases, websites, and journals they think you should search. Searching these sources is not required to perform a systematic review. You may need to reformat your search keywords.

Researchers at GW should check our subject research guides for suggestions, or check the libguides community for a guide on your subject.

In addition you may wish to search one or more of the following resources:

• Google Scholar
• BASE  academic search engine is useful for searching in University Institutional Repositories
• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews  to search for a pre-existing systematic review on your topic
• Epistemonikos database, has a matrix of evidence table so you can see what citations are shared in common across existing systematic reviews of the same topic. This feature might help identify sentinel or 'don't miss' articles.

You might also consider searching one or more of the following websites depending on your topic:

Clinical trial registers. The Cochrane Collaboration recommends for a systematic review to search both clinicaltrials.gov and the WHO ICTRP (See http://handbook.cochrane.org/ section 4.3):

• ClinicalTrials.gov  - also contains study population characteristics and results data of FDA regulated drugs and medical devices in NIH funded studies produced after January 18, 2017.
• WHO ICTRP  - trials register
• TRIP  - searchable index of clinical trials, guidelines,and regulatory guidance
• CenterWatch
• Current Controlled Trials
• European Clinical Trials Register
• ISRCTN Register
• COMPARE - tracks outcome switching in clinical trials
• OpenTrials - aims to match published trials with the underlying data where this is publicly available in an open source 
• ECRI Guidelines Trust

Grey literature resources:

• WONDER - CDC data and reports
• FDSys - search federal government publications
• Science.gov
• NRR Archive
• NIH Reporter
• re3data registry of data repositories
• Data Repositories (listed by the Simmons Open Access Directory)
• OpenDOAR  search academic open access research repositories
• f1000research search open access repositories of articles, slides, and research posters, in the life sciences, public health, education, and communication.
• RAND Health Reports
• National Academy of Medicine Publications
• Kaiser Family Foundation 
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health and medical care data archive
• Milbank Memorial Fund reports and issue briefs
• Also search the resources listed in the CADTH (2019) Grey Matters checklist.

Preprints 

• See our Himmelfarb preprints guide page on finding preprints , a useful database for searching Health Sciences preprints is  Europe PMC

Dissertations and Theses:

• Proquest Dissertations and Theses Online 
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations
• WorldCat and change Content: from Any Content to Thesis/dissertations

Conference proceedings:

Most conference proceedings are difficult to find because they may or may not be published. Only select individual papers may be made available in print as a book, journal, or series, rather than all of the presented items. Societies and Associations may only publish abstracts, or extended abstracts, from a conference, often in an annual supplement to an issue of the journal of record of that professional society.  Often posters are not published, if they are they may be made available only to other conference registrants at that meeting or online. Authors may "publish" their conference papers or posters on personal or institutional websites.  A limited set of conference proceedings databases include the following:

• BASE  academic search engine, has an Advanced Search feature with a Limit by Type to 'Conference Objects', this is useful for searching for conference posters and submissions stored in University Institutional Repositories.
• Web of Science - click All Databases and select Core Collection - under More Settings limit to the Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI) - searches a limited set of conferences on Science, Social Science and Humanities from 1990-present.
• Scopus - Limit Document Type to Conference Paper or Conference Review.
• Proquest  - Limit search results to conference papers &/or proceedings under Advanced Search.
• BioMed Central Proceedings  - searches a limited set of biomedical conference proceedings, including bioinformatics, genetics, medical students, and data visualization.
• F1000 Research - browse by subject and click the tabs for articles, posters, and slides - which searches a limited number of biology and medical society meetings/conferences. This is a voluntary self-archive repository.

Individual Journals 

• You may choose to "hand search" select journals where the research team reads the Table of Contents of each issue for a chosen period of time.  You can look for the names of high impact journal titles in a particular field indexed in Journal Citation Reports  (JCR). Please note as of August 2021 ISI are linking to a new version of JCR that currently does not have the particularly helpful 'Browse by Category' link working, so I recommend you click the Products link in the top right corner and select Journal Citation Reports (Classic) to switch back to the old version to get that functionality back.
• The AllTrials petition aims to motivate health care researchers to petition regulators and research bodies to require the results and data of all clinical trials be published.
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• Last Updated: Mar 21, 2024 11:08 AM
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• v.20(2); 2012 Jun

ON-LINE BIOMEDICAL DATABASES–THE BEST SOURCE FOR QUICK SEARCH OF THE SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION IN THE BIOMEDICINE

1 Academy of medical sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Katarina Milinovic

2 Faculty of medicine, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Most of medical journals now has it’s electronic version, available over public networks. Although there are parallel printed and electronic versions, and one other form need not to be simultaneously published. Electronic version of a journal can be published a few weeks before the printed form and must not has identical content. Electronic form of a journals may have an extension that does not contain a printed form, such as animation, 3D display, etc., or may have available fulltext, mostly in PDF or XML format, or just the contents or a summary. Access to a full text is usually not free and can be achieved only if the institution (library or host) enters into an agreement on access. Many medical journals, however, provide free access for some articles, or after a certain time (after 6 months or a year) to complete content. The search for such journals provide the network archive as High Wire Press, Free Medical Journals.com. It is necessary to allocate PubMed and PubMed Central, the first public digital archives unlimited collect journals of available medical literature, which operates in the system of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda (USA). There are so called on- line medical journals published only in electronic form. It could be searched over on-line databases. In this paper authors shortly described about 30 data bases and short instructions how to make access and search the published papers in indexed medical journals.

1. INTRODUCTION

Medical Informatics is the science that studies the laws of creation, transmission, processing and use information, data and knowledge to solve medical problems ( 1 , 2 ). Medical Informatics is now accepted as the basic medical science ( 2 ). The analogy with the other basic sciences is recognized in the use of previous experience and results, to structuring and encoding of subjective and objective medical findings, which makes them suitable for analysis, integration and further use ( 1 , 2 ).

Information is the set of messages, data and knowledge that form the basis for decision making, then the medical information is the set of messages, data and knowledge needed to solve medical problems ( 1 , 2 ). Health care is perhaps, unique example of the relationship of medical data and the very different levels of information complexity ( 2 ).

Medical information is usually classified according to content, meaning and place of origin, to: a) Primary (elementary); b) Secondary (operational); c) Tertiary (professional and scientific) ( 1 ). Generating information, any type, involves the operation of data processing, algorithm definition and selection of some of the methods for data processing. Data processing consists of various operations with the data of which are elementary: gathering, checking, sorting, editing, grouping, computing, storage, retrieval, copying and transferring ( 1 ). To produce information with a set of operations, is necessary to determine their choice and order of execution, which will be the final number of steps lead to solution-algorithm ( 2 ).

2. SOURCES OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATIONS

The source of scientific and technical information can only be man - scientist, or expert whose scientific and professional work is creating knowledge about something ( 1 ). As information providers he creates documents that represent the materialized for of those informations.

The primary publications is the document that contains text with the primary informations in its original form, as they were prepared by the author. They can be roughly divided into: Magazines or Monographs (books, thesis, atlases, specialist papers, etc.) ( 2 ).

According to the matter which they cover, biomedical journals are divided into four groups ( 1 ):

• Narrowly specialized journals - processed material from the immediate area or a particular speciality. They are usually oriented to a segment of medicine, only rarely to an organ or disease. These magazines are mostly archival type, carefully prepared, rigorously reviewed and have high scientific value.
• General biomedical journals - are intended as a broad range users, and generally treat the broad issues in the field of biomedical and life sciences. Some of these journals publish important original articles from the different specialty with data of greater interest to the medical public.
• Classic magazines - treat the problem from only one of the biomedical field. Published once a month and are considered the predecessor of the first magazine.
• The primary scientific journals - part of scientific literature and main source of scientific information. These are serial in which the first published results of original research and review scientific articles.

A new era of compute science, allows scientists and experts from all fields of biomedical sciences, publishing their work in electronic form. Databases are the perfect and easy access for professionals, and also for the students, to all relevant informations, either for their work or research. Whether it is a full-text or abstract form, every serious editorial has it’s place in the databases.

3. REVIEW OF MOST IMPORTANT BIOMEDICAL DATABASES

The database system is an organized set of data. It is consist of a records, identically defined and desribed. Each scientific paper is record in data written by rules recommended by several scientific associations and committees ( 1 - 13 ). Databases can contain information about the author (including bibliographic data and abstract) and the original work. Data set determines the type of base. The databases are processed best professional journals and publications, and the reliability and quality of information guarantees producers of databases. Most important databases are located in famous university/academic centers, like: Bethesda (NLM), Philadelphia (ISI), Amsterdam (Elsevier), Ipswitch (EBSCO), Geneva (WHO), Moscow (RAS), Shiraz (ISC), Warsaw (IC), etc. ( 14 - 30 ).

For all the databases are the same basic information: author (by name); title; magazine which is published; year of publication ( 1 ).

Generally, we can divide them into three categories ( 1 , 2 ):

Contents bibliographic database refers to papers published in various journals and publications. They contain information such as author, title, source, abstract, year of publication, the institution from which the author comes, publication type, the original language of bibliographic databases, etc. Bibliographic database can vary depending on the area, scope and structure of bibliographic records that enable, a description of the works are very detailed and uniform. These databases are linked with other databases and the original version of published works ( 1 ).

Citation database are also bibliographic databases. Since bibliographic databases differ in addition to the work themselves, processed and used references, the above quote by the author, at the end of work. With them we learn how the works are quoted and used to assess the quality of the cited work and estimated the impact of individual works by specifying the number of citations ( 1 ).

These are mainly collections of journals in electronic form, one or more publishers. Contains bibliographic information (as well as bibliographic databases), and numerous other data. It should be alert to the difference between databases with full text to the bibliographic, which have only indicated a connection (link) with the full text bases. Full text databases usually offered in HTML and/or PDF format ( 1 ).

3.1. THOMSON REUTERS

(Figure ​ (Figure1) 1 ) Thomson Reuters Corporation (NYSE: TRI) is a business data provider and was created by the Thomson Corporation’s purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008 ( 13 , 14 , 15 ). The Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters Group PLC to form Thomson Reuters on April 17, 2008. Thomson Reuters operated under a dual-listed company (“DLC”) structure and had two parent companies, both of which were publicly listed–Thomson Reuters Corporation and Thomson Reuters PLC. The Company is organized into two divisions:

( http://thomsonreuters.com/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Markets Division:

• Financial Professionals & Marketplaces;
• Enterprise Solutions;

Professional Division:

• Legal–formerly North American Legal and Legal & Regulatory; including West, makers of Westlaw, and Carswell:
• IP & Science–formerly Thomson Healthcare and Thomson Scientific;
• Tax & Accounting–formerly Thomson Tax & Accounting.

3.1.1. Current contents

( http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/current_contents/ )

(Figure ​ (Figure2) 2 ) Current Contents ® is a current awareness database that provides easy access to complete tables of contents, bibliographic information, and abstracts from the most recently published issues of leading scholarly journals ( 13 , 14 ). Cover-to-cover, expert indexing provides accurate access to all the information available in journals, not just articles.

( http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/current_contents_connect/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

The web version, Current Contents Connect ®, is part of the Web of Knowledge integrated solution, and offers daily updates and data from evaluated websites and documents.

Current Contents was first published in paper format, in a single edition devoted only to biology and medicine. Other subject editions were added later. Initially, it consisted simply of a reproduction of the title pages from several hundred major peer-reviewed scientific journals, and was published weekly, with the issues containing title pages from journal issues only a few weeks previously, a shorter time lag than any service then available. There was an author index and a crude keyword subject index only. Author addresses were provided so readers could send reprint requests for copies of the actual articles.

Still published in print, it is presently available as one of the databases included in Thomson’s ISI Web of Knowledge with daily updates, and also through other database aggregators.

The following different editions exist:

• Current Contents Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Sciences;
• Current Contents Arts and Humanities;
• Current Contents Clinical Practice;
• Current Contents Engineering, Technology and Applied Sciences;
• Current Contents Life Sciences;
• Current Contents Physical Chemical and Earth Sciences;
• Current Contents Social & Behavioral Sciences.

3.1.2. ISI Web of Knowledge

( http://wokinfo.com/about/whatitis/ )

(Figure ​ (Figure3) 3 ) Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge SM is a research platform that gives you access to objective content and powerful tools to search, track, measure and collaborate in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities ( 13 , 15 ). This intelligent research platform provides access to the world’s leading citation databases, including powerful cited reference searching, the Analyze Tool, and over 100 years of comprehensive backfile and citation data.

( http://wokinfo.com/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

With Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge , you choose the resources that you need–there’s no need to subscribe to unnecessary or extraneous databases ( 13 , 16 ). Combine renowned multidisciplinary databases with content–specific selections and tools for analysis and measurement to create the Web of Knowledge that turns raw data into the powerful knowledge you need.

Citations symbolize the association of scientific ideas. Web of Knowledge uniquely indexes both cited and citing works–which enables the user to make explicit links between current research and prior scientific works.

Use cited reference data to move both backward and forward in time to track and determine research influence.

Use citation analysis to find influential authors who are publishing high–impact research in your field, discover important author and/or institutional research collaborations, determine where the most impactful research is being published.

Analyze research from high–impact journals in the Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities, and seamlessly link to full-text articles.

It is described as a unifying research tool which enables the user to acquire, analyze, and disseminate database information in a timely manner. This is accomplished because of the creation of a common vocabulary for varied search terms and varied data. Moreover, search terms generate related information across categories.

Acceptable content for the Web of Knowledge is determined by an evaluation and selection process based on the following criteria: impact, influence, timeliness, peer review, and geographic representation.

The database includes the following:

• 23,000 academic and science journals (Including Web of Science journal listings);
• 23,000,000 patents;
• 110,000 conference proceedings;
• 9,000 websites;
• Coverage from the year 1900 to present day (with Web of Science);
• Over 40 million source items;
• Integrated and simultaneous searching across multiple databases.

3.1.3. ISI Web of Science

( http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/web_of_science/ )

(Figure ​ (Figure4) 4 ) Web of Science is an online academic citation index provided by Thomson Reuters: It is designed for providing access to multiple databases, cross-disciplinary research, and in-depth exploration of specialized subfields within an academic or scientific discipline ( 13 , 14 ). As a citation index, any cited paper will lead to any other literature (book, academic journal, proceedings, etc.) which currently, or in the past, cites this work. In addition, literature which shows the greatest impact in a field covered by Web of Science, or more than one discipline, can be selectively obtained. For example, a paper’s influence can be determined by linking to all the papers that have cited it. In this way, current trends, patterns, and emerging fields of research can be assessed. Web of Science has indexing coverage from the year 1900 to the present.

( http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/web_of_science/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Web of Science ® provides researchers, administrators, faculty, and students with quick, powerful access to the world’s leading citation databases. Authoritative, multidisciplinary content covers over 12,000 of the highest impact journals worldwide, including Open Access journals and over 150,000 conference proceedings. You’ll find current and retrospective coverage in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, with coverage to 1900.

Titles of foreign-language publications are translated into English and so cannot be found by searches in the original language.

The following types of literature are indexed: peer reviewed journals, original research articles, reviews, editorials, chronologies, abstracts, as well as other areas. Disciplines included in this index are agriculture, biological sciences, engineering, medical and life sciences, physical and chemical sciences, anthropology, law, library sciences, architecture, dance, music, film, and theater. Six citation databases encompasses coverage of the above disciplines.

Web of Science has six available databases:

• Science Citation Index Expanded covers more than 7,100 notable journals encompassing 150 disciplines. Coverage is from the year 1900 to the present day.
• Social Sciences Citation Index covers more than 2,470 journals encompassing 50 social science disciplines. Moreover, this index covers 3,500 notable scientific and technical journals. Range of coverage is from the year 1956 to the present day.
• Arts & Humanities Citation Index covers more than 1,395 arts and humanities journals, in addition to certain items from more than 6,000 scientific and social sciences journals.
• Conference Proceedings Citation Index covers more than 110,000 journals and book-based proceedings in two editions: Science and Social Science and Humanities, encompassing 256 disciplines.
• Index Chemicus indexes more than 2.6 million compounds. The range of coverage is from 1993 to present day.
• Current Chemical Reactions indexes over one million reactions, and the range of coverage is from 1986 to present day. The INPI archives from 1840 to 1985, are also indexed in this database.

3.2. NLM–NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE DATABASES

( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/nlm.html )

(Figure ​ (Figure5) 5 ) The National Library of Medicine (NLM), in Bethesda, Maryland, is a part of the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ( 16 , 17 , 18 ). Since its founding in 1836, NLM has played a pivotal role in translating biomedical research into practice. It is the world’s largest biomedical library and the developer of electronic information services that deliver trillions of bytes of data to millions of users every day. Scientists, health professionals, and the public in the US and around the globe search the Library’s online information resources more than one billion times each year.

( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

The Library is open to all and has many services and resources–for scientists, health professionals, historians, and the general public. NLM has nearly 12 million books, journals, manuscripts, audiovisuals, and other forms of medical information on its shelves, making it the largest health-science library in the world.

In today’s increasingly digital world, NLM carries out its mission of enabling biomedical research, supporting health care and public health, and promoting healthy behavior by:

• Acquiring, organizing, and preserving the world’s scholarly biomedical literature;
• Providing access to biomedical and health information across the country in partnership with the 5,600-member National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM®);
• Serving as a leading global resource for building, curating and providing sophisticated access to molecular biology and genomic information, including those from the Human Genome Project and NIH Roadmap;
• Creating high quality information services relevant to toxicology and environmental health, health services research, and public health;
• Conducting research and development on biomedical communications systems, methods, technologies, and networks and information dissemination and utilization among health professionals, patients, and the general public;
• Funding advanced biomedical informatics research and serving as the primary supporter of preand post-doctoral research training in biomedical informatics at 18 US universities.

Scientific Information Services: The most frequently consulted online scientific medical resource in the world is MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a publicly available database of over 18 million journal citations from 1948 to the present.

Another important part of NLM’s vast online holdings is PubMed Central ® (PMC), a Web-based repository of biomedical journal literature providing free, unrestricted access to more than 1.5 million full-text articles.

3.2.1. MEDLINE

( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/medline.html )

(Figure ​ (Figure6) 6 ) MEDLINE is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s® (NLM) premier bibliographic database that contains over 19 million references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine ( 16 , 17 ). A distinctive feature of MEDLINE is that the records are indexed with NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®).

( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

The great majority of journals are selected for MEDLINE based on the recommendation of the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC), an NIH-chartered advisory committee of external experts analogous to the committees that review NIH grant applications. Some additional journals and newsletters are selected based on NLMinitiated reviews, e.g., history of medicine, health services research, AIDS, toxicology and environmental health, molecular biology, and complementary medicine, that are special priorities for NLM or other NIH components. These reviews generally also involve consultation with an array of NIH and outside experts or, in some cases, external organizations with which NLM has special collaborative arrangements.

MEDLINE is the primary component of PubMed®, part of the Entrez series of databases provided by the NLM National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Time coverage: generally 1946 to the present, with some older material.

Source: Currently, citations from approximately 5,600 worldwide journals in 39 languages; 60 languages for older journals. Citations for MEDLINE are created by the NLM, international partners, and collaborating organizations.

Updates: Since 2005, between 2,000–4,000 completed references are added each day, Tuesday through Saturday; nearly 700,000 total added in 2010. Updates are suspended for several weeks during November and December as NLM makes the transition to a new year of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary used to index the articles.

Broad subject coverage: The subject scope of MEDLINE is biomedicine and health, broadly defined to encompass those areas of the life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering needed by health professionals and others engaged in basic research and clinical care, public health, health policy development, or related educational activities. MEDLINE also covers life sciences vital to biomedical practitioners, researchers, and educators, including aspects of biology, environmental science, marine biology, plant and animal science as well as biophysics and chemistry. Increased coverage of life sciences began in 2000.

The majority of the publications covered in MEDLINE are scholarly journals; a small number of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters considered useful to particular segments of the NLM broad user community are also included. For citations added from 2005–2009: about 45% are for cited articles published in the U.S., about 91% are published in English, and about 83% have English abstracts written by authors of the articles.

Availability: MEDLINE is the primary component of PubMed ( http://pubmed.gov ); a link to PubMed is found on the NLM home page at http://www.nlm.nih.gov . The result of a MEDLINE/PubMed search is a list of citations (including authors, title, source, and often an abstract) to journal articles and an indication of free electronic full-text availability. Searching is free of charge and does not require registration.

A growing number of MEDLINE citations contain a link to the free full text of the article archived in PubMed Central® or to other sites. You can also link from many MEDLINE references to the Web site of the publisher or other full text provider to request or view the full article, depending upon the publisher’s access requirements. For articles not freely available on the Web, the “Loansome Doc®” feature in PubMed provides an easy way to place an electronic order through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine® (NN/LM®) for the fulltext copy of an article cited in MEDLINE. Registration is required and local fees may apply for this service.

Services/products providing access to MEDLINE data are also developed and made available by organizations that lease the database from NLM. Access to various MEDLINE services is often available from medical libraries, many public libraries, and commercial sources.

MedlinePlus®, another service offered by the NLM, provides consumer-oriented health information. Health consumers are encouraged to discuss search results with their health care provider.

3.2.2. PubMed Central

( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/intro/ )

(Figure ​ (Figure7) 7 ) PubMed Central® (PMC) is a free archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM) ( 16 , 18 ). In keeping with NLM’s legislative mandate to collect and preserve the biomedical literature, PMC serves as a digital counterpart to NLM’s extensive print journal collection. Launched in February 2000, PMC was developed and is managed by NLM’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

As an archive, PMC is designed to provide permanent access to all of its content, even as technology evolves and current digital literature formats potentially become obsolete. NLM believes that the best way to ensure the accessibility and viability of digital material over time is through consistent and active use of the archive. For this reason, free access to all of its journal literature is a core principle of PMC.

The PubMed Central National Advisory Committee, established in 1999, provides independent advice on the content and operation of PubMed Central. The Committee is responsible for establishing criteria for groups submitting material to the system, and ensuring that PubMed Central remains responsive to the needs of researchers, publishers, librarians, and the general public. Members of the Committee are appointed by the Director of the National Institutes of Health from the biomedical and information communities as well as the general public.

PubMed Central began operating in February 2000 with content from two journals: PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Molecular Biology of the Cell .

The currency and age of material in PubMed Central varies by journal. Many journals make their content available in PMC as soon as it is published. Others may delay release of content in PMC for anywhere from a few months to more than a year after publication. Most journals provide free access to full text in PMC within a year of publication.

NLM has digitized the earlier print issues of many of the PMC journals in order to provide online access to the complete run of issues of these journals. PMC has material dating back to mid- to late–1800s or early 1900s for some journals.

No. Journals that deposit their articles in PMC fall into one of three categories:

• For several hundred journals, PMC has the complete contents of each issue, starting with the first issue. For the older journals in this group, the back issues of a journal (generally, anything prior to the late 1990s) are available as digitized (scanned) copies of the original print journal.
• For a smaller group of journals, PMC has complete issues and volumes for recent years, but not for all the early years of the journal.
• For still other journals, PMC does not contain any complete issues, just a selection of articles, e.g., just those that are the result of NIH–funded research, or those that the journal has published as open access articles.

In all three categories, PMC contains a journal’s final published version of the respective articles. The PMC Journal List includes information about what content is available from each journal, as well as links to that content.

In addition to the articles from these journals, PMC contains author manuscripts of selected articles from several thousand other journals. These manuscripts are accessible via a PMC search or a link from the corresponding PubMed abstract.

3.3. ELSEVIER as the host of databases

( http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/ataglance )

(Figure ​ (Figure8) 8 ) Elsevier, the modern publishing company, was founded in 1880 ( 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ). It has evolved from a small Dutch publishing house devoted to classical scholarship into an international multimedia publishing company with over 20,000 products for educational and professional science and healthcare communities worldwide. Elsevier takes its name from the original House of Elzevir, a Dutch family publishing house founded in 1580.

( http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/homepage.cws_home , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Elsevier’s history reflects a series of collaborations in the effort to advance science and health. These publishing collaborations with a group of scientific visionaries–ranging from Jules Verne to Stephen W. Hawking–created the foundation of scientific and medical publishing.

The efforts of the men and women dedicated to disseminating and using scientific and medical knowledge have been equally critical–the editors, printers, librarians, nurses, doctors, engineers, information specialists and business people at the center of scientific and health publishing.

Relationships with other great science publishers such as North Holland, Pergamon, Mosby, W.B. Saunders, Churchill Livingstone and Academic Press have also been Integral to our success. These are just a few of the companies that are now part of the Elsevier family, bringing with them rich histories of their own. As the company moves forward, our founding motto remains apt: Non Solus–Not Alone.

As the world’s leading provider of science and health information, Elsevier serves more than 30 million scientists, students and health and information professionals worldwide.

3.3.1. EMBASE

( http://www.embase.com/ )

(Figure ​ (Figure9) 9 ) With over 24 million indexed records and more than 7,600 currently indexed peer-reviewed journals, Embase is a highly versatile, multipurpose and up-to-date database covering the most important international biomedical literature from 1947 to the present day ( 19 , 20 ). All MEDLINE records produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) are included, as well over 5 million records not covered on MEDLINE.

( http://www.embase.com/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Core strengths of Embase include coverage and in-depth indexing of the drug-related and clinical literature, with a particular focus on comprehensive indexing of adverse drug reactions; emphasis on Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) indexing including systematic reviews, and coverage and indexing of journals and articles relevant to the development and use of medical devices.

If you are searching for answers to your questions or simply need reliable, peer-reviewed information on topics such as drug development or use, toxicology, drug safety/adverse drug reactions, clinical trials, evidence based medicine, medical devices, pharmacoeconomics, preclinical reports, basic biomedical science or regulatory affairs, then Embase is the solution you are looking for.

3.3.2. Scopus

( http://www.info.sciverse.com/scopus/scopus-in-detail/facts )

(Figure ​ (Figure10.) 10 .) Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature with smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research. It’s designed to find the information scientists need. Quick, easy and comprehensive, Scopus provides superior support of the literature research process.

( http://www.scopus.com/home.url , acccessed 2012, April 12th).

SciVerse Scopus, some facts: Contains 46 million records, 70% with abstracts; Nearly 19,500 titles from 5,000 publishers worldwide; Includes over 4.6 million conference papers; Provides 100% Medline coverage; Interoperability with Engineering Village; Interoperability with Reaxys, a unique chemistry workflow solution; Offers sophisticated tools to track, analyze and visualize research.

Scopus, launched in November 2004, is the largest abstract and citation database containing both peer-reviewed research literature and quality web sources. With over 19,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers, SciVerse Scopus offers researchers a quick, easy and comprehensive resource to support their research needs in the scientific, technical, medical and social sciences fields and, more recently, also in the arts and humanities.

SciVerse Scopus at a glance July 2011:

• More than 19,500 titles:18,500 peer-reviewed journals (including 1,800 Open Access journals); 425 trade publications; 325 book series, 250 conference proceedings.
• 46 million records: 25 million records with references back to 1996 (of which 78% include references); 21 million records pre-1996 which go back as far as 1823; 4.8 million conference papers from proceedings and journals; “Articles-in-Press” from over 3,850 journals .

Features and functionality designed to support and improve researchers’ workflow, including:

• A simple and intuitive interface;
• Linking to full-text articles and other library resources;
• Author Identifier to automatically match an author’s published research including the h-index;
• Citation Tracker to simply find, check and track citations in real-time;
• Affiliation Identifier to automatically identify and match an organization with all its research output;
• Journal Analyzer provides a quick insight into journal performance;
• Alerts, RSS and HTML feeds to stay up-to-date;
• Document Download Manager to easily download and organize multiple full-text articles simultaneously;
• Interoperability with SciVerse ScienceDirect, Reaxis and Pro-Quest’s CSA Illumina;
• Data export via bibiliographic managers such as RefWorks, EndNote and BibTeX.

3.3.3. Scirus

( http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/electronicproductdescription.cws_home/672920/description#description )

(Figure ​ (Figure11) 11 ) Scirus ( http://www.scirus.com ) is a free web search engine developed especially for scientists, researchers and students. It enables anyone searching for scientific information to pinpoint the information they need–including peer-reviewed articles, patent information, author home pages and university web sites–quickly and easily. Scirus offers both Basic and Advanced search options–with the Advanced search, you can be more specific with what you are looking–(selecting a subject area or content source for instance) before searching.

( http://www.scirus.com/ , accesses 2012, April 12th).

Locating scientific information on the Web is easy with Scirus because it:

• targets scientific information only
• Scirus offers an advantage over other Web search engines because it only finds scientific content, so you don’t have to wade through pages of irrelevant results to find the information you are looking for.
• covers over 480 million sciencerelated pages
• Scirus reveals a wealth of scientific information from Web sources (e.g. university sites, author homepages, company homepages, open access journals), and databases (e.g. articles from 14 scientific publishers (including Elsevier’s ScienceDirect and Nature Publishing Group), MEDLINE abstracts, the five largest patent offices (USPTO, JPO, EPO, WIPO/PCT and UKIPO), institutional and subject repositories (e.g. ArXiv, RePEc, NASA), illuminating your research with unique sources of scientific content.
• finds the most peer-reviewed articles
• By delving deep into major databases, Scirus finds more peerreviewed articles than any other search engine, giving you greater access to key sources of information.
• offers unique features designed specially for scientists
• Scirus was specifically developed for researchers in scientific, technical and medical fields. As well as unrivalled content, Scirus has unique features and functionalities that make it easy for you to find the most relevant research information.
• Scirus has outperformed Google in Usability testing and won several Search Engine Watch Awards.

( http://www.ebscohost.com/about-us )

(Figure ​ (Figure12.) 12 .) Established in 1944, EBSCO is the world’s leading information agent providing consultative services and cutting-edge technology for managing and accessing quality content, including print and e-journals, e-packages, research databases, e-books and more ( 23 ). Now more than ever libraries and research organizations are looking for new ways to manage their collections more efficiently. EBSCO Information Services has developed “e” discovery solutions, including EBSCO A-to-Z ® and LinkSource ® , as well as management solutions such as EBSCONET ® , EBSCONET ® ERM Essentials ® and EBSCO MARC Updates. These services offer unparalleled integration to help librarians save time and money while empowering their users.

( http://www.ebscohost.com/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

EBSCO’s leading online full-text databases include access to full-text articles from peer-reviewed journals published by the world’s most prestigious academic publishers. This content supplements existing library journal subscriptions, expanding access to important publications already in the library’s print or e-journal collection. It also provides new access to many highly-valuable full-text resources previously unavailable to users.

As the leading database and eBook provider for libraries and other institutions–more than 375 full-text and secondary research databases and more than 300,000 eBooks and audiobooks available via the EBSCO host platform–EBSCO provides unparalleled access to worldrenowned content in all subject areas including magazine and journal articles available via EBSCO host ® and H.W. Wilson,eBooks and audiobooks, EBSCO’s content services the research needs of tens of thousands of customers representing millions of end users from K-12 students to public library patrons, from academic, corporate and medical researchers to clinicians and governments around the world.

EBSCO host , stands as one of the most-used for-fee sites on the Internet serving upwards of 100 million daily page views. EBSCO host also powers resources such as DynaMed ™, an evidence-based clinical reference tool as well as other Clinical Point-of-Care Resources designed to inform the clinical workflow for hospitals and other medical institutions. EBSCO’s NoveList division provides Readers’ Advisory and Library Services Resources–a variety of services to help empower libraries, engage readers and connect communities. Corporations and government agencies also benefit from EBSCO’s content specifically in the areas of Corporate Learning, Sustainability, Chemical Hazard Information, Employee Wellness and Pharmaceutical Resources.

EBSCO is also the provider of services designed to enable libraries and other institutions to better serve students and other researchers. EBSCO Discovery Service ™ (EDS) provides a unified index of an institution’s resources within a single, customizable search box approach allowing researchers fast, simple access to the library’s full text content plus deeper indexing and more fulltext searching of a higher number of journals and magazines than any other discovery service.

Bringing together premium content that is not available anywhere else online with the innovative services libraries and other institutions need to deliver that content continues to drive EBSCO toward the next innovation.

3.5. Ulrich’s Periodical Directory

(Figure ​ (Figure13) 13 ) Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory is the standard library directory and database providing information about popular and academic magazines, scientific journals, newspapers and other serial publications ( 24 ).

( http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com/login , accessed 2012, April 12th).

The print version has been published since 1932, and was founded by Carolyn Ulrich, chief of the periodicals division of the New York Public Library, as Periodicals Directory: A Classified Guide to a Selected List of Current Periodicals Foreign and Domestic.

It is now also supplied on-line as Ulrichsweb, which provides webbased and Z39.50 linking to library catalogs. The online version includes over 300,000 active and current periodicals.

Coverage is international, with some emphasis on English-language publications. The information is derived from the publishers and verified by the journal. It includes

• Title and previous titles;
• Starting date, place of publication, and publisher;
• Cost, availability of electronic versions, subscription terms, and approximate circulation as estimated by the publisher;
• Subject information, searchable as subject terms or approximate Dewey Classification, special features, and indexing information;
• Indications of whether the publication is available on open access;
• Indication of whether the publication is peer-reviewed, which is taken to include professional magazines with equivalent editorial control of quality.

Earlier published by R.R. Bowker, it moved to CSA, a fellow subsidiary of Cambridge Information Group, in 2006. Following the merger of CSA and ProQuest, Ulrich’s moved to ProQuest subsidiary Serials Solutions.

3.6. WHO AS A HOST OF DATABASES

3.6.1. hinari.

( http://www.who.int/hinari/about/en/ )

(Figure ​ (Figure14) 14 ) HINARI Programme set up by WHO together with major publishers, enables developing countries to gain access to one of the world’s largest collections of biomedical and health literature ( 25 ). More than 8,500 journals and 7000 e-books (in 30 different languages) are now available to health institutions in more than 100 countries, areas and territories benefiting many thousands of health workers and researchers, and in turn, contributing to improve world health.

( http://www.who.int/hinari/en/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

HINARI Access to Research in Health Programme provides free or very low cost online access to the major journals in biomedical and related social sciences to local, not-for-profit institutions in developing countries.

HINARI was launched in January 2002, with some 1500 journals from 6 major publishers: Blackwell, Elsevier Science, the Harcourt Worldwide STM Group, Wolters Kluwer International Health & Science, Springer Verlag and John Wiley, following the principles in a Statement of Intent signed in July 2001. Since that time, the numbers of participating publishers and of journals and other full-text resources has grown continuously. Today more than 150 publisher partners are offering more than 15,000 information resources in HINARI and many others are joining the programme.

3.6.2. GENEVA FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH–GFMER

( http://www.gfmer.ch/000_Homepage_En.htm )

(Figure ​ (Figure15) 15 ) Established in 2002, the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research (GFMER) is a non-profit organization that aims to provide health education and research training, creating programmes that can be applied by developing countries and countries in economic transition ( 26 ). It also works to establish collaboration between entities from the public and private sectors. GFMER is supported by the Department of Health of the Canton of Geneva, the Department of Social Affairs of the City of Geneva, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, and the Geneva Medical Association. GFMER is a WHO Collaborating Centre in Education and Research in Human Reproduction.

( http://www.gfmer.ch/000_Homepage_En.htm , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Areas of interest:

• medical education;
• medical research;
• training programmes in research methodology, epidemiology, reproductive and sexual health.

Health-related activities

The activities of GFMER range from training in medical research, to research implementation, research synthesis, research management and guideline development. GFMER runs workshops and training courses in, among other things, reproductive and sexual health research. A Postgraduate Training Network for Research in Reproductive Health has been established in 2003. Clinical training activities in the field of Obstetric Fistula are regularly held with partner institutions in resource-constrained countries.

( http://www.cabi.org/default.aspx?site=170&page=1016&pid=125 )

(Figure ​ (Figure16) 16 ) The most comprehensive database of its kind, CAB Abstracts gives researchers instant access to over 6.3 million records from 1973 onwards, with over 300,000 abstracts added each year ( 27 ). Its coverage of the applied life sciences includes agriculture, environment, veterinary sciences, applied economics, food science and nutrition.

( http://www.cabi.org/default.aspx?site=170&page=1016&pid=125 , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Our excellent international coverage sets CAB Abstracts apart from other databases. We process all relevant publications, including less well-known and non-English journals and those published by independent and learned publishers. With publications from over 116 countries in 50 languages, including English abstracts for most articles, researchers get the fullest global picture for any subject.

Global Health is the only specialist bibliographic, abstracting and indexing database dedicated to public health research and practice.

Derived from over 3500 journals, plus reports, books and conferences, Global Health contains over 1.2 million scientific records from 1973 to the present. Over 90,000 records are added each year, and over 95% of these records include an abstract. Publications from over 158 countries in 50 languages are abstracted, and all relevant non-English-language papers are translated to give access to research not available through any other database. The database’s open serials policy and coverage of international and grey literature means that 40% of material contained in Global Health is unique to the database. Everything from proceedings, patents, theses, electronic only publications and other difficult-to-obtain sources are included. Each record has been hand-selected by our subject specialists from over 7,500 serials*, books and conference proceedings, ensuring unparalleled coverage. As a result, we have been shown to include information from more agricultural serials than any other database (don’t just take our word for it – click here for an excerpt from an independent study published in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship ).

3.8. DIMDI – Medical Knowledge Online

( http://www.dimdi.de/static/en/index.html )

(Figure ​ (Figure17) 17 ) High quality information for all health care areas: DIMDI is the publisher of official medical classifications such as ICD-10-GM and OPS (German procedure classification) and maintains medical terminologies, thesauri, nomenclatures and catalogues (e.g. MeSH, UMDNS, Alpha-ID,LOINC, OID) that are important for health telematics and other applications ( 28 ).

( http://www.dimdi.de/static/de/index.html , accessed 2012, April 12th).

DIMDI develops and operates database– supported information systems for drugs and medical devices and is responsible for a programme of health technology assessment (HTA). The information systems are amended by many medical databases which you can search for articles and facts throughout medicine.

Health Technology Assessment (HTA)

• describes the systematic evaluation of health-relevant procedures and methods (vaccinations, medical treatments, preventative measures etc.);
• examines the effectiveness, safety and economic viability of a health intervention, as well as its social, ethical, legal and organisational effects;
• serves as the basis for decisions in the health system: e.g. in policy or in terms of treatment by a doctor.

The German Agency of Health Technology Assessment (DAHTA) of the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) publishes HTA reports. These cover different topics in the area of prevention, diagnosis, therapy, rehabilitation, nursing and methodology.

3.9. Russian Academy of Sciences as a host of VINITI

3.9.1. viniti database of ras.

(Figure ​ (Figure18) 18 ) For many years Russia has had an excellent track record for world-class scientific research conducted in research institutes under the umbrella of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now the Russian Academy of Sciences–RAS) ( 24 ). Today there are about 400 research institutes under the auspice of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), among them the All Russian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (VINITI) occupies a special place as a leading agency in information processing domain.

( http://www2.viniti.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=52 , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Due to VINITI’s mission to process all literature relating to basic and applied science published in the Russian language, its staff has a different approach for the selection of domestic and foreign journals. Editors performing journal evaluation have an educational background in various foreign languages and in library science. They also have to consult editors with an educational background in a specified field of science if a new journal could be useful for JA.

(Journal Abstracts) on a specific discipline (as an example, for processing of JA on Physics or JA on Genetics or JA on Medicine, etc.). Due to non-existence of the special information agency on medical sciences. VINITI took the responsibility to fill the gap and to collect and process literature on medical science since 1998.

VINITI offers the largest Data-Bank (DBn) in Russia via web server ( http://www.viniti.ru ), with back-year data available to 1981. The total number of records is about 30 million; annual addition to DBn is about 1 million records. VINITI has a special group that performs bibliographic control of records. On the VINITI web server ( www.viniti.ru ) the DEMO database for demonstration is available. The search is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are approximately one thousand requests per day.

VINITI developed its own classification scheme (Rubricator) for universal coverage on subject categories on natural and technical disciplines reflected in the VINITI Journal Abstract. The Rubricator of VINITI is based on the deepening of the State Classification (Rubricator) of S&T literature (SRSTI) up to level nine–according to a need of specific area of industry. Rubricator contains: subject heading in English and Russian languages; list of keywords indicating the frequency of their use based on the five-years file of databases and experts’ evaluation; links of subject headings to other classifications.

3.10. GESDAV/ScopeMed

http://www.scopemed.org/index.php?page=about

(Figure ​ (Figure19) 19 ) ScopeMed is a free of charge online journal/Article management system, that can enable all of the operations of the editorial functions of a journal ( 29 ). It is also known as open access indexing and online manuscript submission, review and tracking system. ScopeMed is supported by GESDAV, a non-profit foundation conerning education, health, social help and contribution between alumni of Gulhane Medical faculty.

( http://www.scopemed.org/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Advantages of ScopeMed:

• Open/Free access for peer reviewed medical journals;
• Online Submission of manuscripts;
• Automatic production of PDF file of submitted manuscripts for reviewers;
• Online review of articles;
• Editors could manage articles online;
• ScopeMed also provide a static web page for Journals that using Scopemed article management system (sample: Sample Journal Web Page).
• Basic rules for using ScopeMed.

3.11. Google Scholar

http://scholar.google.com/

(Figure ​ (Figure20) 20 ) Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines ( 30 ). Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes most peer-reviewed online journals of Europe and America’s largest scholarly publishers, plus scholarly books other non-peer reviewed journals. It is similar in function to the freely available Scirus from Elsevier, CiteSeerX, and getCITED. It is also similar to the subscription-based tools, Elsevier’s Scopus and Thomson ISI’s Web of Science. Its advertising words– “Stand on the shoulders of giants”–is a nod to the scholars who have contributed to their fields over the centuries, providing the foundation for new intellectual achievements.

( http://scholar.google.com/ , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Google Scholar allows users to search for digital or physical copies of articles, whether online or in libraries. “Scholarly” searches will appear using the references from “’full-text journal articles, technical reports, preprints, theses, books, and other documents, including selected Web pages that are deemed to be “scholarly.’” Google Scholar is as easy to use as with the regular Google web search, especially with the helpfulness of the “advanced search” option, which can automatically narrow search results to a specific journal or article. Using its “group of” feature, it shows the available links to journal articles. In the 2005 version, this feature provided a link to both subscription–access versions of an article and to free full-text versions of articles; for most of 2006, it provided links to only the publishers’ versions. Since December 2006, it has provided links to both published versions and major open access repositories, but still does not cover those posted on individual faculty web pages access to such self-archived non-subscription versions is now provided by a link to Google, where one can find such open access articles.

3.12. INDEX COPERNICUS – IC

(Figure ​ (Figure21) 21 ) The aim of this web-based communication platform is to offer a set of essential tools for global scientists networking and international research collaboration, providing scientists with:

• integration of different sources of information: literature, grants and patents and the personalised delivery thereof based on scientists profiles
• effective communication and exchange of information between scientists
• worldwide scientists networking based on research profiles
• web-based infrastructure for management of multi-centre research projects
• notification of scientific/professional job vacancies on a personal basis
• multi-parameter career evaluation system which analyses research potential, innovation index, teaching potential and administration experience

( http://journals.indexcopernicus.com/passport.php?id=3652 , accessed 2012, April 12th).

Easily join or start your own online research projects, find collaborators with desirable research skills and access to key equipment for your research or search worldwide for scientists operating in your area of expertise and compare your professional career with those of others. Monitor literature, case reports, conferences, patents and available grant opportunities. IC saves you time effectively filtering available information so you receive exactly what you need right on your IC home panel.

4. BIH JOURNALS INCLUDED IN WORLD'S BIOMEDICAL DATABASES

There are fourteen indexed journals from Bosnia and Herzegovina currently present in world’s biomedical scientific databases ( 1 , 2 ).

After searching the world’s 28 databases that included a review of indexation of these B&H biomedical journals, revealed the following:

“Medical Archives” , ISSN 0350-199x, the oldest medical journal (first published in 1947) in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a journal that is indexed in the database of the world’s highest, and 24, namely: PubMed /MedLine, NLM Catalog, EMBASE, Scopus, Scirus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, CABI, Global Health, GFMER, VINITI of RAS, HINARI, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, ProQuest, NewJour, SCImago Journal and Country Rank, ISC Master Journal List, Genamics Journal Seek, World Cat, Research Gate, GESDAV/ScopeMed, Google Scholar, CIRRIE, Kubon and Sagner OPAC;

“Acta Informatica Medica” , ISSN 0353-8109, journal is indexed in 19 international databases, such as: the NLM Catalog, Scopus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, CABI, Global Health, GFMER, VINITI of RAS, HINARI, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, ProQuest, CrossRef, NewJour, ISC Master Journal List, Genamics Journal Seek, World Cat, GESDAV/ScopeMed, Google Scholar, Kubon Sagner and OPAC;

“Materia Socio Medica” , ISSN 1512-7689, indexed in 18 international databases, such as: the NLM Catalog, EMBASE, Scopus, Scirus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, GFMER, VINITI of RAS, HINARI, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, ProQuest, CrossRef, NewJour, ISI Master Journal List, Genamics Journal Seek, World Cat, GESDAV/ScopeMed, Google Scholar;

“Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences” , ISSN 1840-4812, journal is indexed in 16 international databases, such as: Web of Science, PubMed/MedLine, EMBASE, Scopus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, CABI, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, NewJour, SCI-mago Journal and Country Rank, Genamics Journal Seek, World Cat, Research Gate, Google Scholar, CIRRIE, Kubon Sagner and OPAC;

“Medicinski Glasnik” , ISSN 1840-0132, is indexed in 14 international databases, such as: Web of Science, PubMed/MedLine, EMBASE, Scopus, Scirus, EBSCO, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, New-Jour, Genamics Journal Seek, World Cat, Research Gate, Google Scholar, CIRRIE, Kubon Sagner and OPAC;

“Acta Medica Saliniana” , ISSN 0350-364x, journal is indexed in 12 international databases, including: EMBASE, Scopus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, GFMER, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, NewJour, SCImago Journal and Country Rank, World Cat, Research Gate, Google Scholar, Kubon Sagner and OPAC;

“HealthMed” , ISSN 1840-2291, journal is indexed in 10 international databases, such as: Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, SCImago Journal and Country Rank, Genamics, Journal Seek, World Cat, Research Gate, and Sagner Kubon OPAC;

“Medicinski žurnal” , ISSN 1512-5866, journal indexed in 9 international databases, such as: the NLM Catalog, Scopus, Scirus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, World Cat, Google Scholar, Sagner Kubon and OPAC;

“Acta Medica Academica” , ISSN 1840-1848, journal indexed in 7 international databases, such as: Scopus, EBSCO, Index Copernicus, CABI, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, World Cat, Google Scholar;

“Pedijatrija Danas” , ISSN 1840-2968, journal is indexed in 4 world databases, as follows: EBSCO, Index Copernicus, CABI, World Cat;

“BH Surgery” , ISSN 2233-0135, is indexed EBSCO and Index Copernicus databases;

“Folia Medica Facultatis Medicinae Saraeviensis” , ISSN 0352-9630, a journal indexed in the EBSCO database;

“Journal of Health Sciences” , ISSN 2232-7576, a journal indexed in the Index Copernicus database;

“Scripta Medica” , ISSN 0350-8218, a journal indexed in the Index Copernicus database.

If we take into account that Bosnia and Herzegovina over and passes a difficult time of economic crisis, war and post-war time, the consequences of which are reflected in all segments, especially in the education system at all levels, including higher education, Bosnian medical “scientific image” is a relatively good in relation to the conditions that medical scientists have when it comes to science and research in this area. The question is when will it get better conditions for greater and better scientific publishing in the field of medical sciences. Asked about the quality of published scientific articles and other Bosnian medical scientists with regard to the citations of papers published in 14 of these indexed medical journals currently published in Bosnia and Herzegovina is relatively low. There are many reasons for this situation and prospects is questionable to what to improve any time soon. The interest of companies and organizations that are involved in the development of science and education in Bosnia and Herzegovina is very low. Current journals are generally being self-financing and subsist in its continuity issue.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

PublishingState.com

8 Top Medical Journal Databases

Table of contents, introduction, what are medical journal databases, ensuring credibility and accuracy, access to extensive scientific literature, advancing medical knowledge, improving patient care, 3. cochrane library, 5. web of science, 6. sciencedirect, 8. wiley online library, 8. proquest, learn how to navigate each database, set up a personal account, use citation tracking tools, consult a research librarian.

In this write-up, we will explore several top medical journal databases that can help researchers, medical professionals, and students access a wide range of high-quality, peer-reviewed articles, case studies, clinical trials, and reviews in medicine.

These databases are an essential resource for those seeking the latest medical research findings, breakthroughs in medical technology, disease management strategies, and evidence-based practices. They form a crucial component of academic publishing .

As medical professionals, having access to credible and up-to-date research is vital. Top medical journal databases compile vast collections of peer-reviewed literature, allowing us to stay on the cutting edge of medical knowledge. In this post, we’ll explore the importance of these databases and highlight the top options for accessing medical research.

Medical journals and the databases that house them are crucial in advancing healthcare. Medical journal databases enable collaboration and the dissemination of discoveries by providing a platform for researchers worldwide to share their findings. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical professionals can base treatment decisions on sound scientific evidence.

This article aims to discover today’s most comprehensive and user-friendly medical journal databases. We’ll discuss the unique benefits of the top databases for searching medical literature and research. Whether you’re a medical student looking for research materials or a practicing physician seeking evidence-based clinical data, this post will uncover the ideal databases to meet your needs.

Medical journal databases are vast online repositories that compile, organize, and provide access to various academic articles, studies, and research papers in the medical field. They serve as a critical resource for those engaged in medical research, education, and practice.

These databases contain millions of peer-reviewed articles from reputable academic journals , clinical trial reports, conference papers, systematic reviews, and other scholarly publications. They cover many medical and health-related disciplines, including clinical medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and more.

Medical journal databases utilize advanced search algorithms and taxonomies to index these publications by keywords, authors, date, journal, and other metadata. This allows researchers to efficiently find the most relevant literature on their topic of interest through targeted searches and filters.

Some key benefits of using medical journal databases for research purposes include:

• Access to the latest evidence-based research in one place
• Comprehensive coverage of niche topics
• Tools to track citations and measure impact
• Advanced search functions to pinpoint relevant papers
• Ability to save searches and set up alerts
• Credible, peer-reviewed source material

These databases are invaluable in driving progress in healthcare research and knowledge dissemination by providing a structured gateway to authoritative medical literature. They allow researchers to build on existing evidence, identify gaps, validate findings, and pursue new directions of inquiry across various medical specialties.

Why are Medical Journal Databases Important for Research?

Medical journal databases play a vital role in research by ensuring the credibility and accuracy of scientific literature. As repositories of peer-reviewed articles, studies, and papers, these databases provide researchers access to a vast range of scholarly content spanning various disciplines.

Using medical journal databases for research purposes impacts the advancement of medical knowledge and improvements in patient care in several key ways.

One of the most significant benefits of medical journal databases is that they compile content from reputable , peer-reviewed journals. This review process helps ensure the articles meet rigorous academic standards and contain sound scientific methodology before publication.

By searching medical journal databases rather than the open web, researchers can feel confident they are accessing credible, high-quality scholarly articles for their work. This promotes accuracy in research and evidence-based decision-making in healthcare.

Medical journal databases house millions of academic articles in one centralized location. This provides researchers with an efficient way to access and search a vast range of scholarly literature spanning various specialties instead of searching individual journals.

Researchers can easily find and analyze previous studies on their topic, identify knowledge gaps, and develop evidence-based hypotheses. Access to extensive scientific literature is invaluable for thoroughly investigating research questions.

The peer-reviewed articles in medical databases also contain the latest clinical research and discoveries. Researchers can build upon previous findings, replicate or refute results, identify trends, and uncover new knowledge by utilizing these databases.

This accelerates the growth of medical science. Database searching facilitates meta-analyses and systematic reviews, allowing more definitive conclusions from large research bodies. Medical journal databases are a vital tool for advancing medical science and knowledge.

Finally, medical journal databases support translational research and evidence-based medicine, improving clinical decision-making and patient care. Clinicians can search databases to guide diagnosis and identify optimal treatments supported by current research.

Medical discoveries and treatment innovations stemming from database-driven research can improve patient outcomes and quality of life. Updated clinical practice guidelines are also developed by analyzing the collective evidence in medical databases.

Top Medical Journal Databases for Research

PubMed is among the most popular and widely used medical journal databases globally. It’s a free-to-use database developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) , located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). PubMed contains more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. The articles indexed in PubMed span various disciplines such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and health care. PubMed also includes links to full-text content from PubMed Central (PMC) and publisher websites. One of the key strengths of PubMed is its advanced search capabilities. Users can conduct targeted searches using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), a comprehensive controlled vocabulary for indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. MeSH provides a consistent way to retrieve information that may use different terminology for the same concepts. In addition to its extensive collection of peer-reviewed articles, PubMed also offers several unique features:

• PubMed Central: A free biomedical and life sciences journal literature digital archive.
• My NCBI: Allows users to save searches, set up automatic email alerts for new results on your topics, and customize your search results display.
• Clinical Queries: Provides specialized search options for clinicians seeking research evidence, systematic reviews, and medical genetics literature.
• LinkOut: Links to full-text articles available on external websites, often provided by the publishers.

PubMed is essential for medical researchers, healthcare professionals, and students due to its vast, multidisciplinary content, advanced search capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is a crucial resource for those seeking access to high-quality, peer-reviewed medical literature.

Embase is another top-tier medical journal database renowned for its comprehensive drug-related and pharmacological research coverage. Developed by Elsevier, Embase is particularly valuable for systematic reviews and biomedical research, offering a broader content scope than other databases. Embase indexes over 30 million records from more than 9,000 currently published journals, making it one of the most extensive databases in its field. It includes all MEDLINE records and provides access to unique content unavailable in other databases. This includes significant international biomedical literature from Europe, Asia, and other regions. One of the distinguishing features of Embase is its extensive drug and pharmaceutical research coverage. It contains information on drug development, drug responses, interactions, side effects, and safety profiles. Embase is an invaluable resource for pharmacologists, clinicians, and healthcare professionals who prescribe and manage medication therapies. In addition to its vast collection of peer-reviewed articles, Embase offers several unique features:

• PICO Search: Embase supports the PICO Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICI) search strategy, commonly used in evidence-based practice to frame and answer clinical questions.
• Citation tracker: This feature enables users to track how many times an article has been cited and by whom, providing insights into the impact of the research.
• Drug and Device Indexes: These specialized indexes allow users to search for specific drugs, medical devices, or diseases, helping them find relevant articles more efficiently.

Embase is widely used by researchers, healthcare professionals, and students due to its comprehensive content, particularly in drug and pharmaceutical research, and advanced search capabilities. It is a critical resource for those seeking access to high-quality, peer-reviewed medical literature, especially in pharmacology.

The Cochrane Library is a highly respected medical database known for its collection of high-quality systematic reviews and other evidence-based medicine resources. It’s produced by an international network of healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient advocates dedicated to improving healthcare decision-making globally. The Cochrane Library primarily focuses on systematic reviews of clinical trials, considered the highest evidence level in medical research. These reviews use rigorous methods to collect and evaluate all available evidence related to a specific research question. The goal is to minimize bias and provide reliable findings to inform healthcare decision-making. Other databases included in the Cochrane Library are:

• Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL): A highly concentrated source of reports of randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials.
• Cochrane Clinical Answers: A readable, digestible, clinically-focused entry point to rigorous research from Cochrane systematic reviews.
• Cochrane Methodology Register: A bibliography of publications that report on methods used in the conduct of controlled trials.

The Cochrane Library is an invaluable resource for clinicians, researchers, and students who need access to high-quality, peer-reviewed systematic reviews and other evidence-based medical resources. It’s handy for those conducting systematic reviews or meta-analyses or those who need to make informed decisions based on the best available evidence.

Scopus is another highly respected and comprehensive medical journal database that is an excellent resource for researchers, healthcare professionals, and students. Developed by Elsevier, Scopus is known for its extensive coverage of scientific literature across various disciplines, including medicine, nursing, life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and more. As one of the largest abstract and citation databases, Scopus provides access to over 90 million records from over 25,000 peer-reviewed journals published by over 5,000 international publishers. It also indexes conference papers, trade publications, book series, and patents, providing a broader content scope than many other databases. One of the key strengths of Scopus is its sophisticated tools that allow users to track, analyze, and visualize research. This includes citation tracking features that enable users to follow the impact of specific articles, authors, or institutions over time. These tools provide valuable insights into trends and patterns in scientific research, helping users identify influential works and emerging areas of study. In addition to its vast collection of peer-reviewed articles, Scopus offers several unique features:

• CiteScore : This index measures a journal’s impact and standing among similar fields.
• Author Identifier: This feature assigns unique identifiers to authors in Scopus, enabling more accurate author search and identification.
• Affiliation Identifier: This function automatically identifies and matches an organization with all its research output.
• Document Download: Users can download the bibliographic information for up to 2,000 documents at a time, useful for large-scale analyses.

Scopus is widely used by researchers, healthcare professionals, and students due to its broad multidisciplinary content, advanced analytics capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is a critical resource for those seeking access to high-quality, peer-reviewed medical literature.

Web of Science is a highly respected and comprehensive research database renowned for its extensive coverage of scientific literature across various disciplines, including medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and more. It is widely recognized as one of the top databases for medical and scientific research. Web of Science provides access to numerous databases that reference thousands of academic journals and conference proceedings. This includes content from MEDLINE, open access journals, conference proceedings, and books. One of the distinguishing features of Web of Science is its citation indexing feature. The platform allows users to see how often an article has been cited and by whom, enabling them to track the impact of a particular piece of research over time. This citation network can help researchers identify seminal works and emerging trends in their field. In addition to its vast collection of peer-reviewed articles, Web of Science offers several unique features:

• Citation report: This tool generates a report summarizing citation data, including total papers, total citations, Journal Impact Factor , average citations per item, and an h-index calculation, which measures both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.
• Analyze results: This feature provides a breakdown of search results by categories, such as year of publication, author, source title, document type, and more. This analysis can help users identify patterns and trends in the literature.
• Create citation alerts: Users can set up alerts to be notified when a particular article is cited, allowing them to keep track of the impact of specific research.

Web of Science is widely used by researchers, healthcare professionals, and students due to its broad multidisciplinary content, advanced citation tracking capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is a critical resource for those seeking access to high-quality, peer-reviewed medical literature.

ScienceDirect is another highly reputable and widely used medical journal database. It’s a full-text database developed and maintained by Elsevier, a scientific, technical, and medical provider. The platform offers extensive peer-reviewed literature across various disciplines, including medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences. In addition peer-reviewed articles, ScienceDirect offers additional features:

• Advanced search: ScienceDirect’s advanced search function allows users to conduct targeted searches using a range of criteria, including author, journal, volume, issue, page, ISSN, DOI , affiliation, and more. This helps users find the most relevant articles quickly and efficiently.
• Personalized recommendations: ScienceDirect provides personalized article recommendations based on users’ reading history, helping them discover new research related to their interests.
• Reading history: Users can easily track and revisit the articles they’ve read through.
• Download PDFs: Users can download full-text PDFs of articles for offline reading and reference.

ScienceDirect is a top medical journal database due to its extensive, high-quality content, full-text access, advanced search capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is a critical resource for anyone in the medical field seeking access to comprehensive, peer-reviewed medical literature.

JSTOR is another highly respected and widely used database that provides access to various scholarly literature, including medical journals. It stands out for its extensive archive of back issues from various academic disciplines.

JSTOR offers a collection of high-quality, peer-reviewed academic journals, books, and primary sources. While it covers various fields such as arts, humanities, social sciences, and more, it also has a significant collection of health sciences literature, making it an invaluable resource for medical researchers, healthcare professionals, and students. One of the unique features of JSTOR is its extensive archival content. Many journals in JSTOR’s collection date back to the first volume and issue, some of which were published over 200 years ago. This makes JSTOR particularly useful for researchers interested in historical perspectives or conducting longitudinal studies. In addition to its vast collection of peer-reviewed articles, JSTOR offers several unique features:

• Advanced search: JSTOR’s advanced search function allows users to conduct targeted searches using various criteria, including author, publication title, subject, and more. This helps users find the most relevant articles quickly and efficiently.
• Text analyzer: This unique tool allows users to upload a document. JSTOR then analyzes and generates a list of research articles based on the content of the uploaded document.
• Citation export: Users can easily export citations in various formats, facilitating the referencing process for researchers.

JSTOR is considered a top medical journal database due to its extensive, high-quality archival content, advanced search capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is a crucial resource for those seeking comprehensive, peer-reviewed medical literature.

The Wiley Online Library is a highly respected and comprehensive online research platform hosting an extensive academic resource collection across various disciplines, including medicine and healthcare. It is developed and maintained by John Wiley & Sons, a global publishing company known for its high-quality scholarly publications. The Wiley Online Library provides access to millions of articles from over 1,600 peer-reviewed journals, many leading publications in their respective fields. The database covers various medical specialties, making it a valuable resource for medical researchers, healthcare professionals, and students. In addition to peer-reviewed journals, the Wiley Online Library offers access to a vast collection of books, book series, reference works, and databases, providing a well-rounded and comprehensive research experience. Unique features of the Wiley Online Library include:

• Advanced search: The Wiley Online Library’s advanced search function allows users to conduct targeted searches using various criteria, including author, publication title, DOI, and keywords. This feature helps users find the most relevant articles quickly and efficiently.
• Early view: This feature offers online access to articles before they’re included in an issue. This allows researchers to access the latest research as soon as it’s available.
• Saved search and email alert functions: Users can save their searches and set up email alerts for new content, ensuring they stay updated on the latest research in their field.
• Access options: The Wiley Online Library offers flexible access options, including pay-per-view access and institutional access, making it more accessible to a wide range of users.

The Wiley Online Library is considered a top medical journal database due to its extensive, high-quality content, advanced search capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is a critical resource for those seeking comprehensive, peer-reviewed medical literature.

ProQuest, acquired by Clarivate two years ago, is a highly regarded and comprehensive medical journal database that is an essential resource for researchers, healthcare professionals, and students. ProQuest provides access to various scholarly journals, professional reports, magazines, and other types of content across various disciplines, including health and medicine. The ProQuest Medical Library houses an extensive collection of over 1,500 top-tier medical and health-related journals. This collection spans various medical specialties, including nursing, clinical medicine, biomedicine, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health, and allied health disciplines. It covers key subjects like medical sciences, immunology, pharmacy and pharmacology, nursing, physical fitness and hygiene, surgery, etc. ProQuest also offers other features:

• Abstracting and indexing databases: ProQuest provides specialized databases such as MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and others that index and abstract the world’s scholarly literature in various disciplines.
• Dissertations & Theses: ProQuest is renowned for its extensive collection of dissertations and theses, which can provide valuable insights for researchers exploring niche topics in medicine.
• Ebook Central: This feature gives users access to thousands of important ebooks in the medical field.
• Alerts and RSS feeds: Users can set up alerts to stay updated on new publications in their area of interest.

ProQuest is a top medical journal database due to its extensive, high-quality content, robust search capabilities, and user-friendly features. It is an invaluable resource for anyone in the medical field seeking access to comprehensive, peer-reviewed medical literature.

How to Utilize Medical Journal Databases for Effective Research

Searching through medical journal databases can feel overwhelming at first. With thousands of articles available, how can you pinpoint the most relevant research? Here are some tips for utilizing these databases more effectively:

While the search process is similar across databases, each platform has unique features. Take time to understand the advanced search functions, filters, and settings. Read search tips or watch tutorial videos to optimize your search strategy for each database.

Register for an account on your go-to databases. This allows you to save searches, set up email alerts for new relevant content, store favorite articles in folders, and more. Accounts on some databases also provide access to full texts of articles.

Check out a paper’s reference list or citation index to find other relevant sources on your topic. For example, the Web of Science lets you see which papers have cited an article and view related records.

If you’re struggling to find information, don’t hesitate to ask an academic librarian for assistance. They are experts in navigating medical databases and can recommend the best sources for your research needs.

You can locate credible medical publications and research materials efficiently by tailoring your search strategies to each database. Taking time to optimize your process will pay off with more relevant, high-quality results.

The eight top medical journal databases discussed are pivotal in advancing medical research and improving patient care. As discussed throughout this write-up, these databases provide researchers access to a vast peer-reviewed literature spanning various medical disciplines.

Medical databases enable efficient literature reviews and evidence-based practice by compiling articles, studies, and papers from thousands of academic journals. The top medical journal databases highlighted in this post, such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, Wiley Online Library, and ProQuest, offer unique advantages.

While PubMed remains the go-to resource for biomedical research, Embase provides more comprehensive coverage. Cochrane Library is the premier source for systematic reviews and evidence-based medicine. Scopus and Web of Science allow you to track citations and analyze research impact. ScienceDirect, JSTOR, Wiley, and ProQuest house millions of medical and scientific publications across diverse subject areas.

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