Selecting a Database - HNFE 1114 - Orientation to HNFE - FYE

Library Databases

Virginia Tech's University Libraries gives you access to nearly 1,000 databases. How do you know where to start?

If you like, check out the HNFE Subject Guide, a webpage that will point you to the best databases for Human Nutrition, Food, & Exercise research at VT.

For introductory research, I recommend: PubMed, CINAHL, or Web of Science. If your question is agriculture-related, I would also suggest CAB Direct.

Need help searching any of these databases? Click here for | PubMed Help | Web of Science Help

PubMed from National Library of Medicine
Indexes citations, abstracts and full text from journal articles, case studies, conference papers, clinical trial reports, news reports, and reviews in the fields of medicine,nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and pre-clinical sciences. Full text available in HTML and PDF. You can limit to types of clinical queries, age, gender and species of subject, and review articles that summaries research on a topic. 1946-present.

PubMed citations and abstracts include the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences. PubMed also provides access to additional relevant Web sites and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources.

PubMed is a free resource that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A mobile version is available.
CINAHL: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health with Full Text from EBSCOhost
CINAHL indexes citations, abstracts, and full text from journals in nursing and allied health. It offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals, and book chapters. Searchable cited references for some journals are included. Full-text material (in PDF and HTML) includes journals, legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments, and clinical trials. 1981-present.
APA PsycINFO from EBSCOhost
PsycINFO indexes citations, abstracts, cited references, and some full text from articles, books, dissertations, and reviews on all aspects of psychology. Full text provided as HTML and PDF. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources, age group, classification code, methodology, and population group. 1840-present.
Web of Science from Clarivate Analytics
The Web of Science (WoS) research platform hosts multiple, specialized databases covering academic literature, conference proceedings, patents, and other scholarly content. At the heart of the platform is the Web of Science Core Collection, a curated set of citation indexes for high-quality, peer-reviewed journals, books, and conference proceedings. Additional databases cover specific subject areas (e.g. biology), formats, or regional publications (e.g. Korean). Users may search across all databases on the platform or select a specific database from the 'Search in' drop-down menu.
CAB Abstracts from CABI
CAB Abstracts indexes citations and abstracts from journals, books, reports, handbooks, conference proceedings, field notes, and theses in agriculture, life sciences, natural resources, veterinary sciences, applied economics, nutrition, tourism, and the environment. Includes the CAB Abstracts Archive. Some full text available as PDFs. 1910s-present.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition from EBSCOhost
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition indexes citations, abstracts, and full text from academic journals. In addition, this database includes Lexi-PAL Drug Guide, which covers 1,300 generic drug patient education sheets with more than 4,700 brand names. Full text is available as PDF. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1952-present.