Recommended Article
Bramer, W. M., Rethlefsen, M. L., Kleijnen, J., & Franco, O. H. (2017). Optimal database combinations for literature searches in systematic reviews: a prospective exploratory study. Systematic reviews, 6(1), 245. doi:10.1186/s13643-017-0644-y
Journal Databases
These are commonly used databases for systematic reviews. Depending on your research question, you might want to consider other databases.
- PubMed This link opens in a new window Comprehensive coverage of abstracts to the biomedical literature. Includes medicine, the allied health disciplines, and biomedical literature. Materials range from 1809 Onwards, with more recent decades better represented.
- Embase This link opens in a new window Embase.com is the database equivalent of EXCERPTA MEDICA. It is a comprehensive, international database covering Anesthesiology, Human Genetics, Gerontology, Drug Research, Pharmacology, Drug Side Effects and Interactions, Toxicology, Human Medicine (Clinical and Experimental), including Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Basic Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Biomedicine, Health Policy and Management, Pharmacoeconomics, Public and Occupational Health, Environmental Health, Pollution Control, Substance Dependence and Abuse, Psychiatry, Forensic Science, Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Nursing.
- CINAHL: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature This link opens in a new window Covers journal publications from the nursing and allied health professions. While it primarily covers journal citations, it also includes book chapter abstracts, dissertations, and conference abstracts.
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window Provides access to articles, books and book chapters, and dissertations that cover the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
- ERIC (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new window ERIC is a collection of journal articles, association reports, conference papers, government documents, books and other materials on education-related topics. Some items are available in full text. This database is particularly useful for public policy, curriculum studies, administration, and youth literature.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window This database is a core general science resource, covering all aspects of scientific literature. It also has a number of tools that make it a unique resource for finding scholarly literature. Item records come with links both to the works cited by the paper in question and the future works that cite that paper. Web of Science also allows the user to set up email alerts for specific authors or topics, provides researcher profiles, and to use associated journal metrics provided by the vendor.
- Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts This link opens in a new window ASSIA indexes and abstracts articles on health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. Sources are from 16 countries, including the UK and US.
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews This link opens in a new window A collection of systematic reviews on the impact of health-related interventions & treatments. Updated regularly.
