Knowing Where to Look
A growing number of evidence-based online databases offer access to evidence based articles and journals. Two of the best include:
- MEDLINE/Pub-Med.
This database from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides the most comprehensive listing of biomedical and health related journal citations and abstracts. MEDLINE covers nearly 4,500 journals published in the United States and more than 70 other countries, which date back to 1966.(4) The majority of publications in MEDLINE are scholarly journals with a handful of magazines and newspapers. MEDLINE is a comprehensive database but has limited access to full text articles.4 MEDLINE searches are routed through PubMed, which is part of the NLM and offers expanded options for searching. - Cochrane Library.
This database includes a regularly updated collection of evidence-based medicine literature and comprehensive reviews and analysis of studies.
Searching the Databases
Select your list of key words and phrases relevant to the topic and focus the question to find the needed resource. look for peer reviewed journals that have an expert editorial panel that evaluates the literature to ensure accuracy and quality of work. Reading original research can be very helpful but reading abstract gives you a good, basic understanding of the finding.
Source:
Sackett DL, et al. Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM.2nd ed. New York, NY: Churchill Livingston; 2000.
The Cochrane Library.
