Research databases: studies in eye health

The following lists provide a thorough overview of useful research databases for eye health professionals, depending on the patient and condition of interest. You do not need to search every single database as many will overlap. Instead you may choose something specialised to your question (e.g., Embase for pharmacology or AMED for nutritional supplementation) or instead may choose to use a comprehensive database. The links are in blue to help you access these resources quickly. 

Free online access for PubMED

• Provides biomedical references free online, including some of those on Medline
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

Google Scholar

• Google’s search engine for research and academic references and websites. This includes primary sources (syntheses and articles) as well as secondary sources (e.g., books and websites).
• http://scholar.google.com.au

Cochrane Library

• Provides searching of systematic reviews or syntheses already undertaken by other eye care health professionals
• free access for Australians
• http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/index.html

Library subscription / publisher subscription required
 
Access to these databases may be available through your workplace or university. If you are practising, the university you trained at may offer a library subscription for a discount. Please ask your institution what is possible. Otherwise you can purchase individual or workplace subscriptions.Medline

• Covers medicine, eye health, health administration, and the health care system.
• http://gateway.ovid.com/autologin.html

CINAHL

• Covers allied health and nursing abstracts
• http://www.ebscohost.com/nursing/products/cinahl-databases/cinahl-complete

 AMED: Allied and Complementary Science

• Covers material for professions allied to medicine, including ophthalmology, optometry and rehabilitation as well as complementary medicine and palliative care.
• http://www.ebscohost.com/corporate-research/amed

 Embase

• Specialises in pharmacological and drug interventions
• http://www.elsevier.com/online-tools/embase

 ScienceDirect

• Provides comprehensive references, abstracts and full text across scientific fields, including health professions such as optometry, ophthalmology and eye health care.
• http://www.sciencedirect.com

 Scopus

• This comprehensive database covers life sciences, health sciences, physical sciences and social sciences/ humanities.
• http://www.scopus.com

 Web of Science

• Comprehensive database covers science as well as eye health
• http://thomsonreuters.com/web-of-science/