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Please note that these tip sheets link out to content created by other institutions.

PubMed Search Tips

PubMed comprises more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. The public database is maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Note: this content applies to the public-facing version, not the version of MEDLINE supported by Ovid. A new version of PubMed will become effective on May 18, 2020. For more information about New PubMed, see NLM's New PubMed User Guide.

Embase Search Tips

Embase has over 32 million records, including articles from 8,500 peer-reviewed journal titles. Sixty topic areas are covered, including 30 core clinical and pharmacology topics that represent over 70% of Embase content. The database has more of an international focus than PubMed, and also has greater coverage for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Note: this content is for the Embase.com version of the database, not the Ovid version.

Cochrane Library Search Tips

The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by the Cochrane Collaboration and other organizations. At its core is the collection of Cochrane Reviews, a database of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which summarize and interprets the results of medical research, which are often considered the “Gold Standard” for systematic reviews.

CINAHL Search Tips

The main focus of The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL Plus) is nursing, along with biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. In total, the EBSCOhost database contains nearly 4 million records, indexed from over 3,100 journals dating back to the 1930s. Note: this content applies to the EBSCO version of this database.

PsycINFO Search Tips

PsycINFO Contains more than 2.6 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in psychology and related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, education, social work, law, criminology, social science, and organizational behavior. Collections date back as far as the 1800s. 98% of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Note: this content applies to the EBSCO version of this database.