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Database Searching

Database Comparison Chart

Compare different literature searching databases available through the MSK Library to find the best database to meet your specific needs.

Database Interface Overview Controlled Vocabulary Publication Types Citations Personal Accounts Citation Management
PubMed NLM PubMed (Public MEDLINE) is a US-government funded resource through the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the National Library of Medicine that provides access to search and retrieval of biomedical and life sciences literature. It is comprised of approximately 36 million citations, and includes several databases, including MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC), and NCBI Bookshelf. MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

Journal Articles

Books

No (only in PubMed Central) MyNCBI (log in via 3rd party) Direct export 
MEDLINE ALL Ovid

MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online) is a bibliographic database of biomedical literature.

MEDLINE ALL includes all MEDLINE indexes with coverage from 1946 to present and includes fully-indexed records as well as in-process and other non-indexed citations.

The MEDLINE database can be accessed through several platforms - the MSK Library subscribes to the MEDLINE database through the Ovid platform.

MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) Journal Articles No Yes Export via RIS file
Embase Elsevier Embase (often styled EMBASE for Excerpta Medica dataBASE) is a biomedical and pharmacological bibliographic database of nearly 45 million citations going back to 1947 (historical records are available in Embase Classic). Embase indexes all MEDLINE records as well as an additional nearly 4,000 unique journal titles with over 12 million citations. EmTree

Journal Articles

Conference Abstracts

Yes (through Scopus) Yes (log in via OpenAthens) Direct export
CINHAL Plus EBSCO

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) covers nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health, and the allied health fields. It offers access to health care articles, books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, and audiovisual materials.

In addition to the CINAHL original content, CINAHL Plus includes over 300 additional journals; new materials such as Evidence-Based Care Sheets, Quick Lessons, and Search Strategies; expanded searchable cited records; and indexing for important journals in nursing and allied health dating back to 1937.

CINAHL Subject Headings

Journal Articles

Conference Abstracts

Practice Standards

Patient Education

Trade Magazines

No Yes  Direct export to specific citation managers
Cochrane Library Wiley

Cochrane Library is a collection of evidence-based databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. It includes the Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), and Cochrane Clinical Answers.

MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

Systematic Reviews

Clinical Trials

Evidence-based summaries

No Yes Export to RIS files
PsycINFO Ovid

PsycINFO is bibliographic database providing abstracts and citations to the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. The database includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.

Psychological Thesaurus

Journal Articles

Book Chapters

Dissertations 

No Yes Export via RIS file
Scopus Elsevier Scopus is one of the largest multidisciplinary abstract and citation databases containing both peer-reviewed research literature and quality web sources. It includes over 94 million records with nearly 30,000 active serials and 330,000 books. The citation index includes over 2.4 billion cited references going back to 1970. It also includes bibliometric tools such as author profiles, citation analytics, and author h-indices.  

Journal Articles

Books

 

Yes Yes (log in via OpenAthens) Direct export to specific citation managers
Web of Science Clarivate Web of Science is a multidisciplinary resource platform with a variety of databases, including abstract and citation indices for the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities (the "Core Collection"), as well as patents, biological and zoological indices, and indices of conference proceedings, preprints, and dissertations.  

Journal Articles

Conference Abstracts

Preprints

Dissertations

Yes Yes Direct export to EndNote
Google Scholar Google Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes metadata or full-text of scholarly literature. It works using web crawlers to identify scholarly literature.     Yes Yes (log in via Google account) Export into specific citation managers (limited record information)