Library guides and databases: Medicine &amp; Dentistry: Databases

What are databases? And why use them?

Databases are curated collections of searchable references that let you search across multiple sources at once. While they may not always include full-text articles, UCL’s extensive subscriptions mean you will often have the option to read the full text anyway.

For medical and health research, databases are essential. They help you conduct thorough literature searches which are critical for making informed clinical decisions and avoiding potentially harmful oversights.

Not sure where to start? Check the Key Databases for Medicine section for a quick guide to the most relevant resources. Need help building effective searches? Visit the Literature Searching page for step-by-step support

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.
Medicine guide - Literature searching

Key databases for Medicine & Dentistry

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).
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.
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.
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.
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).

Multidisciplinary databases

Web of Science

See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Web of Science. Defaults to Web of Science Core Collection, which searches citation indexes containing details of scholarly journal articles, conference proceedings and selected book chapters from all academic disciplines; select 'All Databases' option from the drop down menu to cross-search all UCL's subscribed Web of Science products, including Biosis.
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.

Evidence-based resources to aid clinical decision making

Best Practice (BMJ)
Clinical evidence, guidelines and expert opinion on health care, from the BMJ Publishing Group. Presented in a step-by-step approach, covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Replaces Clinical Evidence for UCL users.
TRIP
The TRIP Database is a clinical search engine designed to allow clinicians to quickly find answers to their clinical questions using the best available evidence.

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 for searching databases

Visit the Library Skills: Searching for information page to find links to in-depth guides on using databases including

OvidSP (includes Medline, Embase)
PubMed
Web of Science
Scopus

and more.