Subject Guides: Biomedical Sciences: Journals and Databases

Find the Literature

PubMed This link opens in a new window
More than 30 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Mobile friendly.
Embase This link opens in a new window
International biomedical literature from over 95 countries, including 2000+ journals not indexed in PubMed/Medline. Search for published drug research as well as medical device development, clinical trials, adverse effects,comparisons, and/or economics.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts from scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Cited reference searching allows you to track prior research. Use the All Databases dropdown to link to BIOSIS Previews, BIOSIS Citation Index, and Medline. Linked to EndNoteWeb.
Biosis Citation Index This link opens in a new window
A citation index covering life sciences and biomedical sciences literature that is incorporated into the Web of Science.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Searches literature across many disciplines and sources; includes theses, books, abstracts, articles, and citations. Mobile friendly. How to link to full text off campus.
SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
The SciFinder Scholar system provides access to several Chemical Abstracts Service databases, including Chemical Abstracts, Registry, CASREACT, CHEMLIST, and CHEMCAT. First time users will need to register here for an account from a campus computer.
For account (username, password, and/or deactivation) issues after registration, please contact CAS.

SciFinder provides access to literature in related scientific disciplines, including biomedical engineering and biochemistry.

Popular NCBI Resources

Access tools through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) for extensive biomedical and genomic data.

NCBI Gene
Gene integrates information from a wide range of species. A record may include nomenclature, Reference Sequences (RefSeqs), maps, pathways, variations, phenotypes, and links to genome-, phenotype-, and locus-specific resources worldwide.
NCBI Nucleotide
The Nucleotide database is a collection of sequences from several sources, including GenBank, RefSeq, TPA and PDB. Genome, gene and transcript sequence data provide the foundation for biomedical research and discovery.
NCBI Protein
The Protein database is a collection of sequences from several sources, including translations from annotated coding regions in GenBank, RefSeq and TPA, as well as records from SwissProt, PIR, PRF, and PDB. Protein sequences are the fundamental determinants of biological structure and function.
NCBI Structure
Three dimensional structures provide a wealth of information on the biological function and the evolutionary history of macromolecules. They can be used to examine sequence-structure-function relationships, interactions, active sites, and more.
NCBI BLAST - Basic Local Alignment Search Tool
This program compares nucleotide or protein sequences to sequence databases and calculates the statistical significance of matches. BLAST can be used to infer functional and evolutionary relationships between sequences as well as help identify members of gene families.
NCBI Taxonomy
The Taxonomy Database is a curated classification and nomenclature for all of the organisms in the public sequence databases.

Database Tutorial and Fact Sheets

Advanced PubMed Searching Resource Packet
This is a comprehensive summary of MeSH subheadings, filters, subsets, qualifier terms, tags, and publication types available in PubMed.

Use MeSH to Build a Better PubMed Query
This tutorial shows how to build a targeted PubMed search starting in the MeSH database. It includes very brief background on MeSH terms and indexing.
PubMed: The Filters Sidebar
This is a video providing instruction for using filters in PubMed.
Web of Science Video Tutorials
This is a set of tutorial videos demonstrating how to use Web of Science and it's search features.
NCBI Education
NCBI creates a variety of educational products including courses, workshops, webinars, training materials and documentation. NCBI educational events are free and open to everyone. All NCBI educational materials are available for anyone to re-use and distribute.

Selected Journals

Journal Search

Clinical Resources

ClinVar: aggregates information about genomic variation and its relationship to human health.

Try this: Search for sickle cell anemia to see which genes are involved

MedGen: Organizes information related to human medical genetics, such as attributes of conditions with a genetic contribution.

Try this: Search for sickle cell anemia to find out characteristics of this blood disorder

GTR (Genetics Testing Registry): Centralizes genetic test information which is submitted by providers. Records include the test’s purpose, methodology, validity, evidence of the test’s usefulness, and laboratory contacts and credentials

Try this: Search for sickle cell anemia to discover tests, conditions, genes and laboratories studying this disorder

OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man): A comprehensive, authoritative compendium of human genes and genetic phenotypes that is freely available and updated daily. Maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

Thanks to Molly Knapp at the National Network of Libraries of Medicine for these great explanations.