Research Guides: Translational Medicine: Databases

Related Guides

Introduction

Bibliographic/citation databases contain bibliographic information (e.g., citation information and abstracts) for sources of literature. Conducting a search in most databases will look for your search terms within the bibliographic information, but not within full-text articles. The databases compared and listed below predominantly include bibliographic records of journal articles, but some also include types of "grey" or unpublished literature such as conference abstracts and preprints.

Note: access resources that are free to search (i.e., PubMed and Google Scholar) through the library website or library research guides to ensure you see links to access full-text journal articles that are available through Queen's library subscriptions.

Database Comparison

	PubMed/ Ovid MEDLINE	Embase	PsycINFO	Cochrane Library	Web of Science (Core Collection)	BIOSIS Previews
Years:	1946-present	1947-present	1806-present	Varies by database	1900-present	1926-present
Journals:	>6,500	> 8,500	>2,500	N/A	>33,000	>5,500
Records:	> 38 million	> 45 million	> 5 million	>2 million	> 92 million	>18 million
Record Types:	Mostly journal articles	Journal articles, conference proceedings, preprints	Journal articles, book chapters, dissertations	High-quality clinical trials and systematic reviews	Journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings	Journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, patents
Subjects Included:	Biomedicine incl. allied health, biological and physical sciences	Biomedicine, pharmacology, toxicology, life sciences, and healthcare admin	Psychological literature incl. social, behavioral, and health sciences	Evidence for healthcare interventions and diagnostic assessment	Multidisciplinary incl. science, technology, humanities, and social sciences	Life sciences: biotechnology, neuroscience, pharmacology, public health, toxicology, and zoology
Subject Headings:	MeSH	Emtree	APA Thesaurus Terms	MeSH, but only for some records	N/A	N/A
QUL Platforms:	Ovid and PubMed	Ovid	Ovid and APA PsycNET	Ovid and Wiley	Web of Science	Web of Science
Notes:	No need to search both Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed			Aka Ovid EBM Reviews

Databases

MEDLINE

Date Coverage: 1946 to Present
PubMed

Bracken Library Database Highlight

Date Coverage: 1946 – present
EMBASE

Date Coverage: 1947 - present
BIOSIS Previews

BIOSIS Previews combines the content of both Biological Abstracts and Biological Abstracts/RRM (Reports, Reviews, Meetings), thus providing comprehensive coverage of nearly 5,500 life science journals as well as 1,500 items from international meetings, review articles, books, book chapters, patents, and software reviews.

Subject coverage: All areas of life science, including such topics as: agriculture, biochemistry, biotechnology, ecology, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics, neuroscience, pharmacology, public health, toxicology, zoology.

Because Queen's University Library subscribes to both BIOSIS Previews and Web of ScienceÂ®, a link in a full record from BIOSIS will take you to the corresponding record in ISI Web of Science.

Further information: Available on the vendor's website.
Web of Science (Core Collection)

This database consists of these subject components, which can be searched simultaneously or individually (to search individually, limit to required citation database(s) at bottom of screen):

Science Citation Index Expanded - science and technology journals from 1900-present
Social Sciences Citation Index - social sciences journals from 1956-present
Arts & Humanities Citation Index - arts and humanities journals from 1975-present
Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science (CPCI-S) from 1990-present
Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities (CPCI-SSH) from 1990-present
Journal Citation Reports (listing impact factors and other journal performance metrics) are available through Web of Science.

Science Citation Index: 1900 - present ; Social Sciences Citation Index: 1956 - present ; Arts and Humanities: 1975 - present
Scopus

Date Coverage: 1788-present (updated daily)
APA PsycInfo [via Ovid]

REF BF1.P94 1927-1995 (Psychological Abstracts)

Date Coverage: 1806-present
Cochrane Library
EBM Reviews
Google Scholar
Should you encounter a captcha problem, you can still search QUL resources by going to https://scholar.google.com following the instructions here.

Find More Databases

Ovid MEDLINE Video Tutorials

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Part 1 – 3.29m
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Part 2 – 2.19m
Keyword Searching in Ovid Medline – 2.29m
C ombining Search Terms in Ovid Medline – 2.0m
Applying Limits in Ovid Medline -1.07m

Requesting Full Text Not Available via QUL

If QUL does not provide access to the full text needed, you can request it via the library’s interlibrary loan service one of two ways.

Please note: the turnaround time for receiving PDFs via email can be as quick as one or two business days, however, if the article is quite dated, it may take longer to track down and receive.

Generally, there is no charge for this service. If any charges arise, you will be contacted by the interlibrary loans department prior to your request being processed.

Option 1 - Searching in Omni:

If you are using Omni to search for each article title, turn on the option to "Expand search beyond Queen's collection":

If QUL does not provide access to the full text, you'll see the link "Unavailable - Get if from another library":

This will bring you to an auto-populated request form. Select your "Preferred Queen's Pickup" library location (even though most full text will be sent via email as PDFs) then "Send Request".

Option 2 - Go straight to the Blank Request Form:

Select the citation type "Article".
Use the DOI or PMID to auto fill the form or complete the required fields manually.
You will be asked to select a "Preferred Queen's Pickup" library location (even though most full text will be sent via email as PDFs).
"Send Request".