Research Guides: *Evidence-Based Medicine Resources: Databases by Level of Evidence

Resources Organized by Level

While you can find evidence at a variety of levels in many of these resources, we've organized them to align with different levels of filtered and unfiltered evidence.

Unfiltered are resources that are primary sources describing original research. Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-controlled studies, and case series/reports are examples of unfiltered information.
Filtered are resources that are secondary sources which summarize and analyze the available evidence. They evaluate the quality of individual studies and often provide recommendations for practice. Systematic reviews, critically-appraised topics, and critically-appraised individual articles are examples of filtered information.

Filtered: Systematic Reviews / Meta-Analyses

Cochrane Library
The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, and a tool you can use to get quick answers to clinical questions.
Includes: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) – Cochrane Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) – Clinical Trials, Clinical Answers.
PubMed (MCPHS link)
PubMed includes Medline. You do not need to search both PubMed and Medline (via Ovid).
Provided by the National Library of Medicine, this free database includes access to Medline, citations to other life sciences journals not indexed in Medline (primarily general sciences and chemistry), and links to the molecular biology databases maintained by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Read free articles. Use Get Full Text (MCPHS) for articles that are not free.
Medline (via Ovid)
PubMed includes Medline. You do not need to search both PubMed and Medline (via Ovid).
Bibliographic database of over 21 million citations to the literature of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, allied health, pre-clinical sciences, biomedicine, and health care; International in scope; Abstracts included in 75% of the records; (mid 1960's+) Hint: Search both Embase and Medline to improve drug topic results. No additional username or password needed unless you want to save a search! Also available through PubMed.
Tip: Use the Change link above the search box if you want to switch to searching a different database from Ovid.
CINAHL with Full Text
Literature related to nursing and allied health; also consumer health, biomedicine, and health sciences librarianship; indexes over 2900 journals; also provides access to healthcare books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of professional practice, educational software and AV materials in nursing, the Pre-CINAHL dataset, and more. (1981 +). Full Text to over 600 nursing and allied health journals!! Free to MCPHS users access through a mobile device.
*Unlimited users
TRIP Database
Trip is a clinical search engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily find and use high-quality research evidence to support their practice and/or care. As well as research evidence it also allows clinicians to search across other content types including images, videos, patient information leaflets, educational courses and news. Full-text might be available. In 2025, the ability to filter results may only be made available to individuals who purchase a Pro account.

Filtered: Critically-Appraised Topics

BMJ Best Practice
Summarizes the current state of knowledge about the prevention and treatment of clinical conditions, based on thorough searches and appraisal of the literature. It describes the best available evidence from systematic reviews, RCTs, and observational studies where appropriate, and if there is no good evidence it says so.
EPC Evidence-Based Reports
Using systematic review methods, EPCs review all relevant scientific literature on a wide spectrum of clinical topics to produce various types of evidence reports intended to inform health care decisions by patients, providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

Essential Evidence Plus & AHFS DI Essentials
Read quick overviews of diseases and treatment options. View anatomy images and dermatology images. Listen to a weekly podcast. Available on the Stat!Ref platform via Stat!Ref--MCPHS. 10 simultaneous users Also available via Stat!Ref--MAHSLIN.
ACP Journal Club (The best new evidence for patient care)
ACP Journal Club helps you stay current with the latest evidence-based clinical information relevant to internal medicine and its subspecialties. The content is carefully selected from over 100 clinical journals and the articles are summarized in value-added abstracts and commented on by clinical experts.
Full text available from 2000-2008 directly on this site. Articles published after 2008 are are part of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Annals of Internal Medicine: ACP Journal Club
The ACP Journal Club continues here.

Unfiltered Resources

This includes but is not limited to randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case control studies, and case reports.

PubMed (MCPHS link)
PubMed includes Medline. You do not need to search both PubMed and Medline (via Ovid).
Provided by the National Library of Medicine, this free database includes access to Medline, citations to other life sciences journals not indexed in Medline (primarily general sciences and chemistry), and links to the molecular biology databases maintained by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Read free articles. Use Get Full Text (MCPHS) for articles that are not free.
Medline (via Ovid)
PubMed includes Medline. You do not need to search both PubMed and Medline (via Ovid).
Bibliographic database of over 21 million citations to the literature of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, allied health, pre-clinical sciences, biomedicine, and health care; International in scope; Abstracts included in 75% of the records; (mid 1960's+) Hint: Search both Embase and Medline to improve drug topic results. No additional username or password needed unless you want to save a search! Also available through PubMed.
Tip: Use the Change link above the search box if you want to switch to searching a different database from Ovid.
CINAHL with Full Text
Literature related to nursing and allied health; also consumer health, biomedicine, and health sciences librarianship; indexes over 2900 journals; also provides access to healthcare books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of professional practice, educational software and AV materials in nursing, the Pre-CINAHL dataset, and more. (1981 +). Full Text to over 600 nursing and allied health journals!! Free to MCPHS users access through a mobile device.
*Unlimited users
PsycInfo (APA)
An electronic bibliographic database providing abstracts and citations to the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. The database includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work. About 99% of the journals in the database are peer-reviewed, dating from the early 1800s to the present.
Tip: Use the Change link above the search box if you want to switch to searching a different database from Ovid.
Scopus
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed research literature with more than 20,500 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers. Scopus offers researchers a quick, easy and comprehensive resource to support their research needs in the scientific, technical, medical and social sciences fields and arts and humanities. Limited full-text available.

Background Information / Expert Opinion

DynaMed
Find quick overviews of different conditions in this evidence-based point-of-care clinical decision support system and reference tool. Summaries include drug information from Micromedex and images. The site automatically adjusts to fit your screen size. You can also download the "Free to MCPHS users" app.
AccessMedicine
Access Medicine is an innovative online resource that provides access to more than 75 medical titles such as Harrison's Online and Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment, images and videos, interactive self-assessment, case files, diagnostic tools, and an integrated drug database. Free to MCPHS users the ability to view from and download content to a mobile device.
Faculty members: Create a free MyAccess account and follow the instructions on the For Instructors tab to access additional materials.
AccessPharmacy
AccessPharmacy from McGraw-Hill Medical is an online curricular resource designed to meet the changing demands of pharmacy education. It allows students to select a core curriculum topic, browse by organ system, review more than 30 core textbooks. It includes calculators, video, case studies, care plans, self-assessment, and NAPLEX review. Free to MCPHS users search and view context on a mobile device.
Faculty members: Create a free MyAccess account and follow the instructions on the For Instructors tab to access additional materials.
Stat!Ref – MCPHS
Through MCPHS. STAT!Ref, the premier healthcare e-resource, enables users to intuitively cross-search full-text titles, journals and evidence-based point-of-care authoritative resources. STAT!Ref provides the latest healthcare information in a customizable and convenient format. [Free to MCPHS users, download the mobile app to your mobile device.]
*7 simultaneous users to many books but 2 simultaneous users to many other books. A handful of highly used books have either 10 simultaneous users or unlimited simultaneous users.
Clinical Pharmacology Powered by Clinical Key
Access to monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, herbal and nutritional supplements, over the counter products, new and investigational drugs, and patient education information (in English and Spanish). This site will automatically adjust to fit your screen.