Oxford LibGuides: NHS: Databases

Introduction

Databases are collections of resources such as journal articles and conference papers, and also sometimes book chapters and reports. If you are doing a literature search or systematic review they are a key resource to use.

There are two main kinds of database:

Bibliographic - these index what has been published for a particular subject area and are used to identify material that you might want to locate and study
Full text - as well as providing the bibliographic information they also provide access to the full text of the material you may wish to read

Database guides

Knowledge and Library Hub logo

Use the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub to find NHS resources, run a quick search of the literature, or find out if you have full text access to a specific journal article.

NHS Knowledge and Library Hub
A search engine connecting NHS staff to high-quality knowledge and evidence resources all in one place.

Below is a list of databases for complex, robust and reproducible searches – including for systematic reviews and informing research. These databases are tailored to provide coverage of different aspects of healthcare.

Click on the links below to find out how to use these databases.

EBSCO - CINAHL (The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
Coverage: All aspects of nursing and allied health disciplines.
Ovid - EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database)
Coverage: A current and comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database from 1974 to date.
Ovid - HMIC (Health Management Information Consortium)
A compilation of data from the Department of Health's Library and Information Services (DH-Data) and the King’s Fund Information and Library Service.
Ovid - Medline
Coverage: The whole field of medicine including dentistry, veterinary medicine and medical psychology.
Ovid - EMCARE
Coverage: Nursing and allied health, ideal for practice, research, or education.
Cochrane Library
Comprises full text Cochrane systematic reviews published online, structured abstracts of other systematic reviews published in medical and health journals, and a register of controlled clinical trials.
Ovid - Social Policy and Practice
Social Policy and Practice (SPP) is a comprehensive bibliographic database for those working or studying in the health and social care sectors - bringing together information from the UK's five leading collections of health and social care resources.

You can also access these databases from the Knowledge and Library Hub platform. They are listed in the Further resources section, which you can access from the navigation menu on the left hand side of the page.

Trip Pro
Trip PRO is a clinical search engine designed to allow users to quickly find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care.

These guides contain useful information about database searching

Literature search planning template BHCL
Use this template to develop your search strategy
PICO Example
Use this exercise to help develop your PICO question

Databases by subject

Ovid - EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database)
Coverage: A current and comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database from 1974 to date.
Ovid - Medline
Coverage: The whole field of medicine including dentistry, veterinary medicine and medical psychology.
PubMed
Bibliographic biomedical research database hosted by NCBI. This database can be freely accessed and does not require a subscription.

EBSCO - CINAHL (The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
Coverage: All aspects of nursing and allied health disciplines.
Ovid - EMCARE
Coverage: Nursing and allied health, ideal for practice, research, or education.
Ovid - Medline
Coverage: The whole field of medicine including dentistry, veterinary medicine and medical psychology.

EBSCO - CINAHL (The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
Coverage: All aspects of nursing and allied health disciplines.

Ovid - HMIC (Health Management Information Consortium)
A compilation of data from the Department of Health's Library and Information Services (DH-Data) and the King’s Fund Information and Library Service.

Ovid - Social Policy and Practice
Social Policy and Practice (SPP) is a comprehensive bibliographic database for those working or studying in the health and social care sectors - bringing together information from the UK's five leading collections of health and social care resources.

Cochrane Library
Comprises full text Cochrane systematic reviews published online, structured abstracts of other systematic reviews published in medical and health journals, and a register of controlled clinical trials.

Databases by platform

Ovid - EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database)
Coverage: A current and comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database from 1974 to date.
Ovid - EMCARE
Coverage: Nursing and allied health, ideal for practice, research, or education.
Ovid - HMIC (Health Management Information Consortium)
A compilation of data from the Department of Health's Library and Information Services (DH-Data) and the King’s Fund Information and Library Service.
Ovid - Medline
Coverage: The whole field of medicine including dentistry, veterinary medicine and medical psychology.
Ovid - Social Policy and Practice
Social Policy and Practice (SPP) is a comprehensive bibliographic database for those working or studying in the health and social care sectors - bringing together information from the UK's five leading collections of health and social care resources.

EBSCO - CINAHL (The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
Coverage: All aspects of nursing and allied health disciplines.

Cochrane Library
Includes:
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)
Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs)

PubMed
Bibliographic biomedical research database hosted by NCBI. This database can be freely accessed and does not require a subscription.
Trip Pro
Trip PRO is a clinical search engine designed to allow users to quickly find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care.

Quick Links

These links take you directly to the databases.

Free databases:

Other databases (Athens account required)

Video tutorials

Literature searching tutorials

Bitesize video tutorials on the following topics:

Developing a search strategy
Tricks for searching databases
MeSH terms
Searching Medline
Searching PubMed
Citation searching
Using search engines to find grey literature

Related guides

Systematic Reviews and Evidence Syntheses
This guide is intended for OUH Trust staff as well as students and researchers at the University of Oxford, seeking up to date information on how to carry out systematic reviews.