Research Guides: Palliative Care Information Resources: Literature Searching

Introduction

A literature search can help with locating background information on a topic (review articles in particular) and answering clinical questions. The databases and search engines listed below are free to search, however, full text articles may not be included. See the notes section for each resource for more information.

Free Resources for Literature Searching

Google Scholar
Use the Google Scholar search engine to locate articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles published on the "open" web. It does not include full text journal articles; however, some full text journal articles are freely accessible from open access journals.
PubMed
PubMed is a free bibliographic database supporting the search and retrieval of biomedical and life sciences literature with the aim of improving health–both globally and personally. The PubMed database contains more than 35 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature. It does not include full text journal articles; however, links to the full text are often present when available from other sources, such as the publisher's website or PubMed Central (PMC).
PubMed Central (PMC)
PubMed Central is a free digital repository that archives open access full-text scholarly articles that have been published in biomedical and life sciences journals. As one of the major research databases developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, PubMed Central is more than a document repository.
SciELO
SciELO is a bibliographic database, digital library, and cooperative electronic publishing model of open access journals, meaning that all full text articles are freely accessible. SciELO was created to meet the scientific communication needs of developing countries and provides an efficient way to increase visibility and access to scientific literature.

Follow-up Individual Librarian Consultation

Following the live library session on "Literature Searching in PubMed and Beyond" on May 10, 2023, you can request to meet once with a health sciences librarian at Queen’s University if you would like help with a literature search you are working you on.
To book your 30-minute librarian consultation, email me at sandra.mckeown@queensu.ca.
Please use a descriptive email subject line that includes Pallium India (e.g., Consultation request for Pallium India fellowship program).
Please also include a brief description of your search topic, the purpose of the literature search (e.g., clinical care or writing a review article), and your preferred dates/times for meeting (including your time zone).