Library Guides: Biomedical Sciences: Databases

Biomedical databases

Medline (Ovid)
Comprehensive medical database including veterinary, dentistry and nursing topics.
Instructions:Ovid tutorial
PubMed
Comprehensive medical database including veterinary, dentistry and nursing topics.
EMBASE
Comprehensive medical database with particular strength in drug and pharmacology topics. Includes European journals and conference abstracts not available in Medline.

Multidisciplinary databases

Web of Science
Science, technology, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Good coverage of material pre-1970. Selects "journals of influence".
Conferences: Yes
Scopus (Elsevier)
Science, technology, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research.
Conferences: Yes
Google Scholar
All subject areas.
Limited search options.
Conferences: Yes, also tutorials, posters, presentations, newsletters (not peer-reviewed)

Want to know more about multidisciplinary databases? Check out our FAQs

Academic literature

What is a scholarly journal article?

A scholarly journal article is written by experts and goes through a process of peer review.

Peer review

Experts in the field are asked to rigorously check an article for quality, originality and accuracy.

This feedback is given to the editor who decides if the work is suitable for inclusion or needs revisions.

How can I find peer reviewed articles?

Database contains	Can search?	Examples
Peer review and non-peer review	Look for a: tick box on the search page Limit or Filter on results page	CINAHL Informit Health Collection
Peer review and non-peer review		Web of Science Scopus Google Scholar
Only peer reviewed journals		Medline (Ovid) PubMed

Database contains

Can search?

Examples

Peer review and non-peer review

Look for a:

tick box on the search page
Limit or Filter on results page

CINAHL

Informit Health Collection

Peer review and non-peer review

Web of Science

Scopus

Google Scholar

Only peer reviewed journals

Medline (Ovid)

PubMed

Peer-reviewed journals may also contain articles that are not peer reviewed, such as letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and book reviews.

What other types of academic literature are there?

Scholarly books, conference proceedings, textbooks and reference works are all other types of academic literature and may appear in the databases on this page.

Check with your tutor or lecturer what is suitable for a particular assessment.