If you want to do a thorough search of the literature on a topic, the best way to do this is to use a database.
A database indexes journals and other sources of information, meaning you may search across all these indexed sources at once.
Databases are not always easy to use. You will receive training in searching biomedical databases from your subject librarian. Please get in touch with your subject librarian if you'd like any help.
There are lots of different databases, with different topic coverage. Here are some databases which are particularly useful for Population Health Sciences students and researchers.
Database of complementary medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, rehabilitation, podiatry, and palliative care.
CINAHL includes journal articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings and standards of practice related to nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and allied health disciplines.
Systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare which includes the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Clinical Answers (CCAs), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Please note: to access off campus, select 'Sign in', 'Institutional login' and then choose 'University of Bristol'.
A database of articles published in the fields of medicine, biomedical science and related areas. It is particularly good for pharmacology and associated subjects.
A database of evidence-based healthcare systematic reviews maintained by the Epistemonikos foundation.
International literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care.
NB: This database can be browsed on campus without signing into the Overton site. Off campus, users need to register on the Overton registration page with their @bristol.ac.uk email address. Overton allows users to discover policy documents in 180 countries and explore their links to each other and to the academic research that has informed them. Overton indexes work from governments, universities, IGOs, NGOs, research funders, publishers and think tanks to understand their role in the policymaking landscape. Users can track the evolution of ideas all the way from academic and think tank research to government reports and legislation.
PubMed contains references to journal papers from Medline and life sciences journals.
International database covering summaries of journal articles, book chapters, technical reports and citations to dissertations in the field of Psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines.
Scopus includes references to journal articles, conference proceedings and books relating to science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts & humanities.
Search the world’s leading scholarly journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Includes: Science Citation Index; Social sciences Citation Index; Arts and Humanities Citation Index; Arts and Humanities Citation Index; Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science; Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities.
Regional database from the World Health Organisation (WHO) providing access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low-middle income countries.
African journal literature originating from a wide base of publishers and societies on the African continent.
Please note: full text downloads of patents is temporarily suspended from April 2023.This is due to Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) imposing new oversight requirements on specific content types appearing in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)
China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), is a database of Chinese knowledge-based information resources. This platform covers journals, theses, proceedings, newspapers, books and ancient books.
Please note: before accessing full text pdfs, you should ensure that you have the Simplified Chinese Font Pack for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Eldis provides free access to relevant, up-to-date and diverse research on international development issues. Eldis is hosted by the Institute of Development Studies.
Explore the results of the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
The World Health Organisation's (WHO) Global Health Estimates (GHE) provide the latest available data on death and disability globally, by region and country, and by age, sex and cause.
Global health data on a wide range of themes from the World Health Organisation.
The Global Index Medicus (GIM) provides access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low-middle income countries. It is produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Regional Index Medici are available: African Index Medicus (AIM), Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR), Index Medicus for the South-East Asia Region (IMSEAR), Latin America and the Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS), Western Pacific Region Index Medicus (WPRO).
J-STAGE is a platform for scholarly publications in Japan. It is developed and managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
A collection of platforms for journals from a range of locations including African Journals Online, Bangladesh Journals Online, Cetnral America Journals Online, Mongolia Journals Online, Nepal Journals Online Philippines Journals Online, Sri Lanka Journals Online and Vietnam Journals Online.
Regional content from scholarly journals in South Korea.
LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature) database.
Science, social science, and arts and humanities research in published in open access journals from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean and South Africa.
Here is a full list of databases available through the University of Bristol library that might be useful for Population Health Sciences students and researchers.
It is also worth noting, due to the multi-disciplinary nature of research done within Population Health Sciences, that some of the databases listed under other subjects may well also be useful.
If you are undertaking a systematic or scoping review have a look at our guide to Systematic Reviews within the Health Sciences.
Your Subject Librarian will provide training on searching databases and other resources, in consultation with your department or school.
You can also contact me or the Medical Library team for 1:1 support on using databases.
These interactive tutorials take you through the process of using Medline, PubMed and Embase to conduct thorough literature searches. UoB login required.
Browzine is a website/app that allows you to browse, read and keep up-to-date with the key journals in your subject field on your PC, smartphone or Tablet.
A comprehensive guide to all stages of the research process, from writing research questions to collecting data and writing up your findings.
Vast database of full-text handbooks, videos and case studies of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Also includes a research project planner, with step by step help on each stage of the research process, for all types of dissertation or research project.
