Major optometry databases
Biomedical databases
PubMed
Watch this video (3:02) on using MeSH for a targeted search. Watch this video (3:20) on using the Advanced Search in PubMed.
US/ International.
Pubmed is one of the premier biomedical databases. There are currently over 23 million records, including Medline records. Licensing and Resource Information.
MEDLINE Complete
The MEDLINE database is available through a number of different platforms, including PubMed, EBSCOhost and Ovid. This access point is for MEDLINE Complete which provides full text access to many of the indexed major medical journals using the EBSCOhost platform. Licensing and Resource Information.
Embase
(Guide: Using Embase search features)
Embase is an important biomedical and pharmaceutical database. It contains records from MEDLINE, but indexes the records differently. Embase also includes 5 million records not covered by MEDLINE. Licensing and Resource Information.
CINAHL Complete
Watch this video (3:53) on advanced searching for CINAHL. Watch this video (3:32) on using Cinahl Headings.
CINAHL is a major database for nursing and allied health, and will contain useful content for aspects of your medical information gathering. Licensing and Resource Information.
PsycINFO
The largest resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health. It contains over 3 million records and summaries including the full index of PsycARTICLES. Licensing and Resource Information.
Optics databases
Compendex via Engineering Village
Compendex is a comprehensive engineering database which contains optics information. It provides access to abstracts of journal articles, as well as some full text links to the whole article. Licensing and Resource Information
IEEE Xplore
Watch this video (4:20) on basic searching for IEEE Xplore. Watch this video (4:33) on advanced searching for IEEE Xplore.
IEEE Xplore is another engineering database, and may be useful for optics information. It provides access to abstracts and full-text of: IEEE journals, transactions, and magazines, IEEE conference proceedings, IEE journals, IEE conference proceedings and current IEEE standards. Licensing and Resource Information
SPIE Digital Library
Access to resources on optics and photonics. Includes articles and books.Licencing and Resource Information
Scopus
Watch the video (4:31) on using Scopus.
Multidisciplinary, and includes a range of optics records. Scopus is updated daily and indexes over 15,000 peer-reviewed journals as well as quality web pages, with links to full text. Licensing and Resource Information.
The databases listed above focus on specific areas of health and optometry. You may also wish to see the resources listed on the Evidence Based Practice guide for clinical information and other clinical decision-making tools.
See also the A-Z Database List to browse for databases by subject.
Recommended journals
Major optometry journals worth browsing.
- Clinical and Experimental Optometry
- Contact Lens and Anterior Eye
- Cornea
- eMJA - Medical Journal of Australia
- Eye & Contact Lens
- Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
- Journal of Glaucoma
- Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics
- Optometry & Vision Science
- Retina
- The Ocular Surface
Other electronic journals can be accessed via the Journal Search.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog allows you to search to find the full title of a journal from an abbreviated title, or vice versa. Type in either the full title or the abbreviation and click on ‘search.’
Clinical Key
Clinical Key is a medical search engine which captures information from Elsevier published clinical videos, medical textbooks, guidelines, journals, imagebanks and the point of care tool, First Consult. Licencing and Resource Information.
Watch this video (3:50) for an introduction on Clinical Key. Features include saving material into a reading list for later reference.