Research Guides: Systematic Reviews: Planning, Writing, and Supporting: Databases/Grey Literature, etc.

Selecting Databases

Core

CINAHL Complete
Comprehensive database of nursing and allied health journals
Cochrane Library
A collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, including access to Cochrane Reviews.
PubMed
PubMed comprises more than 28 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.
Scopus
The largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings
Web of Science
Citation database with multidisciplinary coverage of journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Indexes the journal literature and tracks article citation histories.

Specialty

ERIC
A database with a focus on education
Global Index Medicus
The Global Index Medicus (GIM) provides worldwide access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low-middle income countries. The main objective is to increase the visibility and usability of this important set of resources. The material is collated and aggregated by WHO Regional Office Libraries on a central search platform allowing retrieval of bibliographical and full text information.
PsycINFO
The main index to the peer-reviewed literature for psychology and neuroscience. It indexes citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports in the field of psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines.

Other

Cochrane Resources for Handsearchers
Tools and resources for handsearching key journals

Finding Grey Literature

Grey Matters: A Practical Tool for Searching Health-Related Grey Literature
GreyNet: Grey Literature Network Service
NIH RePORTER
Find NIH projects and funding information
OAIster
Contains records of digital resources from open-archive collections worldwide
Resources for Searching the Grey Literature
From Duke University

Clinical Trials/Results Databases

Center Watch
ClinicalTrials.gov
Comprehensive database of privately and publicly funded clinical trials
WHO International Clinical Trials Registry

Conference Proceedings and Dissertations

ProQuest
Select "Conference Papers and Proceedings" or "Dissertations and Theses" from the databases listed under the Databases tab.
Web of Science
Citation database with multidisciplinary coverage of journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Indexes the journal literature and tracks article citation histories.

Articles, Books, Chapters

Armstrong R, Jackson N, Doyle J, Waters E, Howes F. It's in your hands: the value of handsearching in conducting systematic reviews of public health interventions. J Public Health. 2005;27(4):388-391.

Helmer D, Savoie I, Green C, Kazanjian A. Evidence-based practice: extending the search to find material for the systematic review. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 2001 Oct;89(4):346-52. PMID:11837256; PMCID: PMC57963

Hopewell S, Clarke MJ, Lefebvre C, Scherer RW. Handsearching versus electronic searching to identify reports of randomized trials. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 2. Art. No.: MR000001. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.MR000001.pub2.

Hopewell S, McDonald S, Clarke M, Egger M. Grey literature in meta-analyses of randomized trials of health care inventions. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 2. Art No.: MR000010. PMID: 17443631

Information Service, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Finding studies for systematic reviews: a resource list for researchers. Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, July 2010.