Guides and databases: Global Health: Databases

Key databases in your subject area

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.
PubMed
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to PubMed. Please view the instructions on how to see findit@UCL links in PubMed when offsite. PubMed is an index of biomedical literature, including all data from the Medline database from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM).
EMBASE
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database renowned for extensive indexing of drug information.
Global Health (1910-present)
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Specialist bibliographic abstracting and indexing database dedicated to public health. Derived from over 16,000 journals, reports, books and conferences, Global Health adds over 25,000 scientific records each year.
Cochrane Library
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to The Cochrane Library. The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Cochrane Databases include: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL).
Web of Science
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Web of Science. Defaults to a ‘Core Collection’ search, covering the main Web of Science journals database; select 'All Databases' option from the drop down menu to cross-search all of UCL's subscribed Web of Science products, including Biosis, MEDLINE etc.
SCOPUS
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Scopus. Multi-disciplinary database containing references to journal articles, conference proceedings, trade publications, book series and web resources. Please use IE 8 or higher, Google Chrome or Firefox browsers.
BIOSIS Citation Index
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to BIOSIS Citation Index. Get a comprehensive view of life sciences research, including the most important discoveries, significant influences and relevant connections. Biosis Citation IndexSM combines critical life sciences research with powerful citation indexing.
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.

Other useful databases

ASSIA Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts
ASSIA covers the literature of health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. The database abstracts and indexes over 500 journals and periodicals from 19 countries, including the UK and US
Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. Offering access to full-text journals including Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and MIS Quarterly, plus business videos from top providers. BSU spans various business topics, from current trends to historical information and global perspectives. . Accessibility statement for Business Source Ultimate.
Campbell Collaboration
The Campbell Collaboration is an international research network that produces systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions.
CINAHL Plus
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. The authoritative source of information for the professional literature of nursing, allied health, biomedicine, and healthcare.
EconLit
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Index of international publications on economics, with selected abstracts.
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.
Epistemonikos
Epistemonikos is a collaborative, multilingual database of health evidence. It is a source of systematic reviews relevant for health-decision making and includes other types of scientific evidence
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.

Global Index Medicus
Provides worldwide access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low- and middle- income countries. The main objective is to increase the visibility and usability of this important set of resources.

IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (ProQuest)
Index of literature in the social sciences and related subjects.
JSTOR
Archive of important scholarly journals. Core resource. Accessibility statement for JSTOR.
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.
ProQuest Central
ProQuest Central is the largest multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. Over 160 subjects areas are covered including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more. Accessibility statement for ProQuest Central.
PsycINFO
See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines.

Virtual Health Library
A collection of health-related databases primarily focusing on the Latin American and Caribbean region, but also providing access to sources from other countries and regions.

WHO COVID-19 Database
This free database gathers the latest international multilingual scientific findings and knowledge on COVID-19, including preprints and ongoing clinical trials.

Library Databases

Library databases A-Z
Browse or search our databases by title, or use the Subject drop down box at the top to narrow down to databases in your subject area.

What is a database?

Guides and Tutorials

The Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health's webpages include a range of online tutorials and guides to help you with searching some of the most popular literature databases.

You may also find the LibrarySkills@UCL: Searching for information guide useful in getting started with database searching.

For more advanced searching, the LibrarySkills@UCL: Systematic reviews guide and self-paced Systematic Reviews Searching tutorial can be good places to start.

Geographical database search filters

The ISSG Search Filters Resource includes links to various geographical search filters. It also links to articles about the development and effectiveness of geographical filters. Some of the filters have been validated (tested to determine their effectiveness) and some have not.

Geographical filters are search strategies that you can use within your own searches to help you to find papers focusing on a particular geographical region.

If you are using, or adapting, a filter within your search strategy, you should cite the filter within your work.

The ISSG Search Filters Resource also includes filters for other topics, and for various study designs.

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