- University Libraries
- Research Guides
- Subject Guides
- Medicine
- Research Literature Databases
Medicine: Research Literature Databases
Virginia Tech's University Libraries gives you access to nearly 1,000 databases. How do you know where to start?
For introductory research, I recommend VT's Discovery Search and a few disciplinary databases: PubMed, CINAHL, or Web of Science. If your question is agriculture-related, I would also suggest CAB Direct. Still not sure about which database(s) are best for your research? Try browsing a few subject guides, or look through the full research database list
Need help searching any of these databases? Click here for Discovery Search Help | PubMed Help | Web of Science Help
Looking for full text?
Remember to look for the Get VText icon:
If that doesn't work, don't hesitate to contact your librarian for help accessing the full text of an article.
Interlibrary Loan Services
All current Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff, regardless of your location, may request through ILLiad for materials:
- not owned by Virginia Tech (books, articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
- owned by Virginia Tech but are unavailable for use (print books)
- owned by Virginia Tech and available in print (scans of articles from journals and conference proceedings, book chapters, standards, and technical papers)
We ship requests via UPS to users outside the immediate Blacksburg area (Montgomery, Giles and Pulaski counties).
Articles, book chapters, and many technical papers are delivered in PDF format to your ILLiad account. Occasionally, due to copyright restrictions, a paper copy of an article or standard is held for your at the Newman User Services Desk or sent o the mailing address listed on your account.
General / Interdisciplinary
- Google ScholarGoogle's search engine for scholarly research: the ease of Google searching combined with the quality resources you find in library databases. It indexes citations, abstracts, and full-text articles, books, conference proceedings, theses, online repositories, patents, legal cases, and more. Google Scholar is particularly good when starting research and canvassing the literature or as a final search on a topic.
- Web of ScienceThe three Web of Science databases index citations from journal articles and conference proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. You can perform cited reference searches, analyze trends and patterns, and create visual representations of citation relationships. 1900-present.
Medicine, Allied Health, Biomedical
- NCBI - All Databases SearchThe All Databases search includes PubMed and other NCBI databases, such as Gene, Protein, Structure, Nucleotide, and more. NCBI provides a wealth of tools, resources, and learning materials and tools to explore, access, and analyze literature, data, and more related to biomedical, genetics, and health topics.
- PubMed (with MEDLINE)Premiere biomedical research database: PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine that includes over 19 million citations. Limits for publication type, population, and more are available. PubMed is available to the public as an open access database, and includes links to full text articles. *Be sure to ask how to get all VT and Carilion full text options. 1946-present.
- PubMed Tip - Maximize your full-text access to PubMed articles through VT library subscriptions.
- CINAHLCumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature - 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. 1981-present.
- TRIP Pro (Turning Research Into Practice)TRIP Pro allows clinicians to search symptoms and other details to find research- and evidence-based medical articles, images, videos, patient information leaflets, educational courses, and news. Create a personal profile to save searches, receive monthly email updates for those searches, and set links to full text.
- Cochrane LibrarySix databases with different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, and a seventh database with information about Cochrane groups.
Psychology
- PsycINFOCitations, abstracts, cited references, and some full text from articles, books, dissertations, and reviews on all aspects of psychology. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources, age group, classification code, methodology, and population group. 1840-present.
- Tests & MeasuresExplore resources on this guide for Tests & Measures - Questionnaires, Surveys related to health behavior, mental health, and more.
Engineering
- Engineering VillageThe search interface to three engineering databases: Compendex,Inspec, and NTIS. Compendex indexes citations and abstracts from over 5,000 engineering journals, conference papers, books, patents, dissertations, and technical reports. Inspec indexes citations and abstracts from journal articles, conference proceedings, books, and dissertations in engineering and physical sciences. NTIS indexes citations and abstracts of National Technical Information Service reports and audiovisual materials from sources such as NASA and the departments of Energy and Defense. 1884-present.
- Biotechnology AbstractsIndex of citations and abstracts in medicine, agriculture, and engineering related journals, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and patents. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1982-present.
- Medical Technology - Industry Standards, Patents, moreExplore the page on this guide with links to industry standard sources, patents, and more related to medical devices and other health sciences technologies research.
Agriculture, Animal Health / Veterinary Medicine
- CAB AbstractsCitations 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. 1910's-present.
- PubAgThis is a portal to USDA-authored and other highly relevant agricultural research. It includes over 1,100,000 citations.
Business, Cost, and Economics Related to Health Care
- ABI/InformCitations, abstracts, and full text news articles, market and SWOT analyses, industry reports, country reports, downloadable data sets, dissertations, business cases, working papers, annual reports from North American companies, and company profiles and histories. 1971-present.
Librarians for Medical Research
Erin M. Smith, Health Sciences Research Librarian at VT University Libraries, erinsmith@vt.edu / 540-231-5663
Rita McCandless, Clinical Research Librarian, VTCSOM Library: mjmccandless@carilionclinic.org / Office: 540-526-2570