Bibliographic Databases and Search Engines

From Clinicaltools.com

This page contains links to—and descriptions of—various bibliographic databases and search engines that might prove helpful to our research and writing (i.e., grant applications, website content, etc.). This is meant to be a working list, so please feel free to add bibliographic tools that you have found helpful. In addition, I'll be updating a compare-and-contrast page that documents how many results show up—and which results show up first—when entering the same search terms into different databases.

Contents 1 Databases and Engines 1.1 PubMed 1.1.1 PubMed Spin-offs 1.2 Google Scholar 1.3 MedWorm 1.4 Research and Development Resource Base 2 Citation Management 2.1 CiteULike

Databases and Engines

PubMed

PubMed is, of course, the database to go to for any and all literature searches in the biomedical sciences; any academic research that we conduct at Clinical Tools begins here. Keep in mind that while you can type any term you want in the search field, it might be a good idea to restrict/narrow your search via PubMed's parameters (click on the "Limits" tab) and/or Medical Subject Heading (MeSH).

PubMed Spin-offs

In addition, since PubMed is free and open-access, there are a lot of third parties that mine PubMed's data and display them in different ways — thus creating alternative functionalities and interfaces. Some are very useful and aesthetically pleasing; others are pathetic. Here is a running list of the better ones (check later for additions):

• BioWizard - Following the model of Digg, BioWizard allows one to submit articles from PubMed and to vote on those that others have submitted — thus creating ranks of articles' importance/relevance.

• GoPubMed - This site drills down PubMed search results in order to provide detailed data on the relative prevalence of MeSH terms, authors, journals, locations, and dates in relation to whatever search terms you enter. It's a powerful tool with an attractive interface.

• HubMed - Thanks to Sara for originally bringing this site to our attention. HubMed lays a clean and crisp interface on top of PubMed's data. It includes the following functionalities:
  • Expand search terms
  • Cluster search results
  • Show MeSH information
  • Expand abbreviations
  • Display query-related statistics
  • Show only papers which are freely available online

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is the academic wing of the search giant, allowing one to look for academic articles across the Web, in a variety of sources. It's a bit anarchic compared to PubMed's orderly, controlled vocabulary, but it does index work outside the realm of formal, peer-reviewed journals. Its Advanced Search allows one to limit queries by author, publication, date, and subject area.

MedWorm

MedWorm is a "medical RSS filter engine" that indexes health-related feeds and then allows users to search those feeds as they would the wider Internet.

Research and Development Resource Base

The Research and Development Resource Base (RDRB) is "a searchable literature database for the health professions." It is supported by various continuing-education organizations, including the Alliance for CME.

Citation Management

CiteULike

CiteULike is a free tool for storing and sharing academic articles/citations. One also can tag articles with relevant keywords (e.g., check out the articles tagged buprenorphine).