Guides and databases: Ovid databases: What is Ovid?

What is Ovid?

The Ovid interface provides access to a range of databases, e-journals and e-books. The databases are particularly useful for identifying journal articles and other publications on a particular topic within the subject areas covered by each database. The examples in this guide are based on MEDLINE but each Ovid database has similar functionality.

You might also see Ovid referred to as OvidSP (previous branding).

Accessing Ovid databases

UCL staff and students may access Ovid resources from any computer. Link from the UCL Library Services databases list. Off-site access requires a UCL user ID.

Other UCL library members may access Ovid resources from 'Explore Access Points' situated within Library buildings.

Important! UCL users, always link to the Ovid database of your choice from the UCL Library Services databases list or from links on this page to ensure you have full access.

NHS staff may be able to access some Ovid resources with an NHS OpenAthens account via the NHS Knowledge & Library Hub.

Which databases are available through Ovid at UCL?

AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine) See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Contains references to articles on allied and alternative medicine. Many of the journals covered are not indexed by any other biomedical sources.
EMBASE See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database renowned for extensive indexing of drug information.
Emcare See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Covering all nursing specialties and nursing healthcare professions Emcare includes international coverage and includes unique content not found in other nursing and allied health databases including more than a thousand journals not covered by Embase.
GEOBASE See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Index of literature in the fields of physical and human geography, geology, oceanography, geomechanics, mineralogy, ecology and development studies.
GeoRef See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in the geosciences. See GeoRef InProcess for provisional content.
GeoRef InProcess See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Records of the American Geological Institute's geoscience database that have not yet been indexed completely. These records will appear in GeoRef once they are indexed fully.
Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 5 users at a time. Index of articles on a wide variety of evaluation and measurement tools for health and psychosocial studies, for practitioners, educators, researchers, and students.
HMIC (Health Management) See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Guide to literature on health management and policy, with an emphasis on the UK National Health Service, but also including Europe (including Eastern Europe) and developing countries.
ICONDA See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 5 users at a time. Index of literature on all aspects of planning and building.
International Pharmaceutical Abstracts See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 2 users at a time. IPA provides worldwide, comprehensive bibliographic coverage of pharmaceutical science and health related literature. SUBJECTS COVERED: Biopharmaceutics, Drug Therapy, Economics, Education, Ethics as Related to Pharmaceutical Science + Practice and Pharmacy Practice, Information Processing, Legislation, Regulation, Technology, Toxicity, Utilization.
Maternity and Infant Care (MIDIRS) See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 2 users at a time. Resource for academics and healthcare professionals involved in the care of women and infants. Covers the midwifery profession, pregnancy, labour, birth, postnatal care, and neonatal care and the first year of an infants life.
MEDLINE (Ovid version) See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of journal articles from the National Library of Medicine. Covers medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. Includes EPub Ahead of Print citations.
PsycARTICLES See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. PsycARTICLES is a database of full-text articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe Publishing Group.
PsycEXTRA See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Database of "grey" literature relating to psychology, behavioral sciences, and health. Full-text is available for the majority of records. Coverage consists primarily of material written for professionals but disseminated outside of peer-reviewed journals.
PsycINFO See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines.
PsycTESTS See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Focuses primarily on unpublished tests, developed by researchers but not made commercially available. Records link to materials describing the test in peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, or dissertations and related peer-reviewed literature describing test development, review, or use.
Social Policy and Practice See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Abstracts of evidence-based social science research for policy-makers, practitioners, educators and students working within economic and social development, social administration, social services, and care management. Incorporates ChildData.
Transplant Library See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. The Transplant Library is the bibliographic database of the Centre for Evidence in Transplantation (CET). It contains randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews on all aspects of solid organ transplantation. Consisting of over 8,800 references of RCTs published from 1970.

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

Ovid databases

What is Ovid?

Accessing Ovid databases

Which databases are available through Ovid at UCL?

What is a database?

Searching databases training