There are A LOT of databases that you could use to find articles to use in your literature review. We recommend starting in a database instead of a general search tool like Google. Databases specialize in academic sources. You can find good sources in Google, but many of articles are behind paywalls. You will need to use the library's systems to read the full article anyways. Save yourself time - start in an academic database!
All our databases are listed on the A-Z Databases List. The chart on this page compares a small number of recommended databases:
| Scopus | PubMed | WHO COVID-19 Database | PsycInfo (APA) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects | Multidisciplinary – sciences, health sciences, social sciences, humanities. A friendly database for when you need to expand beyond PubMed for your topic. |
Primarily Biomedical Sciences An excellent database to start in for almost any health-related topic. |
Primarily Biomedical Sciences Special focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Psychology, social, behavioral, and life sciences. Especially useful for topics that connect to behavioral and mental health. |
| Recommended Search Strategies |
Primary: Search for ideas or phrases and combine them with AND, OR, or NOT. Secondary: Change the search box drop down menu to “All Fields” and search the way you speak. |
Primary: Search the way you speak, search for ideas or phrases and combine them with AND, OR, or NOT. Secondary: Use the MeSH database to use the built-in subject headings. |
Primary: Search for ideas or phrases and combine them with AND, OR, or AND NOT. (Yes, you need both the AND and the NOT to exclude something in this database.)
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Primary: Use the built-in subject headings. Secondary: Uncheck “Suggest subject headings” to search with your own ideas or phrases and combine them with AND, OR, or not. |
| Notable Features |
“Cited by” to see newer articles that have used this article in their reference list. Options to “include” or “exclude” results with filters. |
Automatically searches both British and American spellings and for singular / plural forms of your search terms Highly specific “article type” filters. |
This search engine collects information related to COVID from many databases and publishers. MCPHS does not normally have access to some of those databases. | Subject specific filters including “methodology - empirical study” and “tests & measures.” |
| Access | You have access through the MCPHS subscription – just go through the Library and use your MCPHS email and password. | Free to search. Some articles are free. Access other articles through MCPHS's subscriptions or our Interlibrary Loan service. | Free to search. Many of the articles are free. Access other articles through MCPHS's subscriptions or our Interlibrary Loan service. There is no option in this database to check if something is in MCPHS's subscriptions. You will need to check yourself. use the library's journals page or search for that article in MCPHS Smart Search or Google Scholar to know. | You have access through MCPHS's subscription – just go through the Library and use your MCPHS email and password. |
| Relative Size | Largest: “over 90.6 million records” include information from approximately “ 27,950 active titles.” | Large: “The PubMed database contains more than 35 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature” | Small: As of June 15, 2023, an empty search finds over 860,200 citations. | Small: Over 5 million citations. Includes records from approximately 2,400 journals, plus other types of content. |
| Dates of Coverage | 1970 - present | Roughly 1940s - present, but also includes older citations dating back to 1700s. | 2019-present | 1597 - present, with comprehensive coverage from 1880s. |
| Update Frequency | Daily | Daily | Every weekday | Twice a week |
| Option to Create a Personal Account | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Notes | In May 2020 PubMed moved to a new interface that relies more on machine learning to tag and index content. |
This search engine was built quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It repurposes a different search engine . A few of the tools you find on the search pages and the results page may not function. Avoiding the subject filter and the subject search option for most searches. This search engine collects information from many different databases and publishers. Only of few of them use the subject headings you will find in this search engine. You will miss many results if you use the subject headings. You can download all of the citations in this search engine. You will need to download them in batches of 50,000. |
MCPHS uses the Ovid platform. Other institutions use other vendors (EBSCO or APA). | |
| Tutorials | Scopus Overview | PubMed Videos [click "Quick Tours - html version] and Interactive PubMed tutorial for creating a personal account. |
WHO Global Research on Coronavirus Disease Quick Guide Quick Search Guide for WHO COVID-19 Database . (This guide was adapted from the guide for Global Index Medicus. There are still some references to GIM on it.) |
Interactive PsycInfo (APA) tutorial |