Welch Medical Library Guides: Expert Searching: Database Tipsheets

Database Tips

PubMed Search Tips PubMed comprises more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. The public database is maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Note: this content applies to the public-facing version, not the version of MEDLINE supported by Ovid. A new version of PubMed will become effective on May 18, 2020. For more information about New PubMed, see NLM's New PubMed User Guide.
Embase Search Tips Embase has over 32 million records, including articles from 8,500 peer-reviewed journal titles. Sixty topic areas are covered, including 30 core clinical and pharmacology topics that represent over 70% of Embase content. The database has more of an international focus than PubMed, and also has greater coverage for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Note: this content is for the Embase.com version of the database, not the Ovid version..
Cochrane Library Search Tips The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by the Cochrane Collaboration and other organizations. At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews, a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and interprets the results of medical research, which are often considered the “Gold Standard” for systematic reviews.
CINAHL Plus Search Tips The main focus of The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL Plus) is nursing, along with biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. In total, the EBSCOhost database contains nearly 4 million records, indexed from over 3,100 journals dating back to the 1930s. Note: this content applies to the EBSCO version of this database.
PsycINFO Search Tips PsycINFO Contains more than 2.6 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in psychology and related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, education, social work, law, criminology, social science, and organizational behavior. Collections date back as far as the 1800s. 98% of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Note: this content applies to the EBSCO version of this database.
Scopus Search Tips Scopus comprises more than 70 million citations of literature in all subject areas, being pulled from tens of thousands of journals, book series, and trade journals. Featured data sources include both Embase and Medline (1996 to the present), but more recent results from these sources can sometimes face delays because of indexing. Scopus is run by the publisher Elsevier and claims to be the largest abstract and citation database in the world.
Web of Science Tips Web of Science provides abstracts and full text access to scientific literature. Web of Science allows you to search across several databases, including its Web of Science Core Collection and other databases included in Johns Hopkins’ subscriptions like MEDLINE and BIOSIS. Note: some articles may be found in multiple databases, and Web of Science prioritizes results that are from within Clarivate-owned databases first in the list of results.

PubMed Search Tips

PubMed comprises more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. The public database is maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Note: this content applies to the public-facing version, not the version of MEDLINE supported by Ovid. A new version of PubMed will become effective on May 18, 2020. For more information about New PubMed, see NLM's New PubMed User Guide.

Embase Search Tips

Embase has over 32 million records, including articles from 8,500 peer-reviewed journal titles. Sixty topic areas are covered, including 30 core clinical and pharmacology topics that represent over 70% of Embase content. The database has more of an international focus than PubMed, and also has greater coverage for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Note: this content is for the Embase.com version of the database, not the Ovid version..

Cochrane Library Search Tips

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by the Cochrane Collaboration and other organizations. At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews, a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and interprets the results of medical research, which are often considered the “Gold Standard” for systematic reviews.

CINAHL Plus Search Tips

The main focus of The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL Plus) is nursing, along with biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. In total, the EBSCOhost database contains nearly 4 million records, indexed from over 3,100 journals dating back to the 1930s. Note: this content applies to the EBSCO version of this database.

PsycINFO Search Tips

PsycINFO Contains more than 2.6 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in psychology and related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, education, social work, law, criminology, social science, and organizational behavior. Collections date back as far as the 1800s. 98% of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Note: this content applies to the EBSCO version of this database.

Scopus Search Tips

Scopus comprises more than 70 million citations of literature in all subject areas, being pulled from tens of thousands of journals, book series, and trade journals. Featured data sources include both Embase and Medline (1996 to the present), but more recent results from these sources can sometimes face delays because of indexing. Scopus is run by the publisher Elsevier and claims to be the largest abstract and citation database in the world.

Web of Science Tips

Web of Science provides abstracts and full text access to scientific literature. Web of Science allows you to search across several databases, including its Web of Science Core Collection and other databases included in Johns Hopkins’ subscriptions like MEDLINE and BIOSIS. Note: some articles may be found in multiple databases, and Web of Science prioritizes results that are from within Clarivate-owned databases first in the list of results.