Searching - Do It Yourself
Where to Search
Where to Search
Core Resources
Cochrane Library: the Cochrane Library is a premier resource for information on the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. You should search the Cochrane Library when you are looking for information about the effectiveness of treatments and healthcare interventions. e.g.:
The Cochrane Library is not so useful for general healthcare questions e.g.:
Key Health & Social Care Databases
Cochrane Library: the Cochrane Library is a premier resource for information on the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. You should search the Cochrane Library when you are looking for information about the effectiveness of treatments and healthcare interventions. e.g.:
- What is the best treatment for epilepsy?
- Are stroke units effective?
- Is feather bedding better than non-feather bedding for asthma sufferers?
The Cochrane Library is not so useful for general healthcare questions e.g.:
- Primary research other than RCTs and controlled clinical trials (CCTs)
- Causal, prognosis, epidemiology, etc.
- Statistics (prevalence and incidence) or current research
Key Health & Social Care Databases
Health Databases Advanced Search (HDAS) is being decommissioned at the end of March 2022 so alternative platforms to search are listed below.
AMED |
It covers a selection of journals in complementary medicine, palliative care, and several professions allied to medicine. |
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BNI |
Comprehensive index covering all aspects of nursing, midwifery and community healthcare. |
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CINAHL |
Covers all aspects of nursing and allied health disciplines. |
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EMBASE |
A major biomedical and pharmaceutical database indexing over 3,500 international journals. |
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EMCARE |
A nursing and allied health bibliographic database published by Elsevier. |
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MEDLINE |
A general medical database produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. |
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PSYCHINFO |
Provides access to international literature in psychology and related disciplines |
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PUBMED |
Comprises over 25 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE |
Search at PubMed |
HMIC |
Brings together the bibliographic database of the Department of Health's Library and Information Services (DH-Data) and King’s Fund Information and Library Service. |
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OTSEEKER |
A database that contains abstracts of systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials and other resources relevant to occupational therapy interventions. |
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PeDRO |
It is a free database of over 49,000 trials, reviews and guidelines evaluating physiotherapy interventions. |
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Social Care Online |
The UK’s largest database of information and research on all aspects of social care and social work |
Other Core Resources
BioMed Central - A pioneer of open access publishing, BMC has an evolving portfolio of high quality peer-reviewed journals
UpToDate: provides an overview of a topic and so is useful for general search questions, e.g. “Can you find me all the evidence on the diagnosis and treatment of disc herniation?”
Clinical Knowledge Summaries - Over 370 topics organised alphabetically, with focus on the most common and significant presentations in primary care.
NHS Evidence - Evidence on health, drugs and technologies, public health, social care, and healthcare management and commissioning in one place
NICE Guidance - Evidence-based recommendations developed by independent committees, including professionals and lay members, and consulted on by stakeholders.
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