Research guides: Pharmacy : Databases (PubMed, Embase, +more)

Research Article Databases

Use these databases to search for pharmacy and biomedical focused journal literature, such as original studies and literature reviews:

PubMed
Articles in medicine, life sciences, animal sciences, plant sciences, biomedical research, medical devices, nursing, biotechnology, the healthcare system, and the preclinical sciences.
Coverage: 1950 - present
PubMed is comprised of 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 websites.
International Pharmaceutical Abstracts
Indexes journals in pharmaceutical science and health related topics.
Coverage: 1970 - present
The International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA) Database provides worldwide coverage of pharmaceutical science and health related literature. Comprehensive information is included for drug therapy, toxicity, and pharmacy practice as well as legislation, regulation, technology, utilization, biopharmaceutics, information processing, education, economics, and ethics as related to pharmaceutical science and practice.

Note: Access A limited number of users may access this database simultaneously; if you are unable to connect, please try later.
EMBASE (OVID)
Indexes international biomedical and pharmaceutical journals.
Coverage: 1974 - present
EMBASE indexes international journals in the following fields: drug research, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, toxicology, clinical and experimental human medicine, health policy and management, public health, occupational health, environmental health, drug dependence and abuse, psychiatry, forensic medicine, and biomedical engineering/instrumentation. There is selective coverage for nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, psychology, and alternative medicine.

Note: Access A limited number of users may access this database simultaneously; if you are unable to connect, please try later.
Medline
Literature in biomedicine, medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences.
Coverage: 1950 - present
Produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), Medline provides citations, many with abstracts, to the world's journal literature. Sources include current biomedical journals published in more than 70 countries.
Cochrane Library
Articles on evidence-based medicine, including systematic reviews, clinical trials and health technology assessments.
Coverage: current
The Cochrane Library consists of a regularly updated collection of evidence-based medicine databases, including The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - evidence based systematic reviews prepared by the Cochrane Collaboration which provide high quality information to people providing and receiving care and those responsible for research, teaching, funding and administration at all levels.

If you are doing research involving different subject areas, these databases can also be relevant to your work:

Scopus
Peer-reviewed literature from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, covering the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Coverage: 1966 - present
Web of Science
Articles and citations in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Coverage: Varies
Web of Science is comprised of several databases. The Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI) covers journals in the medical, physical and natural sciences, and engineering fields. The entire database extends back to 1899. The Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) covers journals in the social sciences. The entire database extends back to 1898. The Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) covers journals in the arts and humanities. It also selectively covers relevant items from science and technical journals. The entire database extends back to 1975.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
Provides comprehensive coverage of the literature related to public health and allied health disciplines.
Coverage: 1981 - present
Offers complete coverage of English language nursing journals and publications from the National League for Nursing and the American Nurses' Association, this database covers nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. In addition, CINAHL offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals and book chapters.
PsycINFO
Articles, dissertations and book chapters in psychology and behavioral health.
Coverage: 1840 - present

LILACS
LILACS indexes articles, theses, books, conference proceedings, and other types of scientific and technical literature related to health sciences, with a focus on research conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean. It covers a wide range of topics, including medicine, public health, nursing, dentistry, and other health-related fields.
Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal
An integrated (includes literature from the biomedical, ecological, and geophysical sciences), curated bibliographic database of global peer-reviewed research and gray literature on the science of climate impacts on human health.

DSM-5-TR Library
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) features the most current text updates
based on scientific literature with contributions from more than 200 subject
matter experts.
SciFinder-n
Provides chemical information including physical and chemical properties, reactions, and patents.
Coverage: 1907 to present
Note: Access is restricted to current faculty, students and staff of the University. Account registration must be done using your Waterloo email address.
Reaxys
Authoritative information in organic, inorganic and organometallic chemistry.
Coverage: 1779 - present
ACS Journals
Peer-reviewed journals published by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Coverage: 1879 - present
MathSciNet
Articles in mathematics, computer science, statistics, and econometrics, as well as applications to science and engineering.
Coverage: 1940 - present
Produced by the American Mathematical Society, MathSciNet provides reviews, with abstracts, to the world's literature in mathematics and related areas. MathSciNet is compiled from the print equivalents, Mathematical Reviews and Current Mathematical Publications. Reviews are classified according to the Mathematics Subject Classification.
ERIC
Indexes educational-related journals, conferences, government documents, bibliographies, and books.
Coverage: 1966 - present
Dissertations and Theses Global
Full text of many North American, European, United Kingdom and Ireland graduate students theses and dissertations.
Coverage: Indexing 1637-, Full Text 1997-
EconLit
Economic literature relating to business administration, economic development, economic history, industrial organization and macroeconomics.
Coverage: 1969 - present
Canadian Legal Information Institute Databases (CanLII)
Access to court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from all Canadian jurisdictions.
Coverage: varies
Nexis Uni
News, legal, and business sources from around the world, Find news, legislation, case law, statutes, company profiles, market & industry reports.
Coverage: 1970s - present
Note: If you are at a public workstation you will be asked for your WatIAM (Quest) User ID and Password.
IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Resources for computer science, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and mechanical engineering.
Coverage: 1988 - present
IEEE Xplore provides access to journals, annual conference proceedings, and IEEE technical standards.
CABI Digital Library
Subject coverage: agricultural, animal and environmental sciences; food safety; ecoterrorism; climate change; ecotourism; pharmacology; physiology; toxicology; occupational health; gerontology; and policy recommendations.
Coverage: 1900s - present

All databases
A complete list of all research databases available to you through the University of Waterloo Library.

We have access to more than 600+ pharmacy and pharmacology journals.

Browse our electronic journal collection.

Enter a journal title in the search box, or use the "Journals by category" option to browse journals by category, e.g. Health & Biological Sciences.

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