LibGuides: Free and Open Access Health Resources: Databases and search engines

Health databases and search engines

Throughout your career, you will need to source original studies - experiments, observations. case studies and clinical trials - from the scholarly literature. Databases index articles published in scholarly journals, and enable you to search by specific topic or to conduct a broad sweep of the literature.

The databases listed below focus on specific areas of health and medicine, and are freely accessible. You may also wish to see the resources listed on the Evidence Based Practice guide for clinical information.

Cochrane Library
The premier source for evidence-based decision support, including systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.
PubMed
Premier biomedical databases.

Healthdirect
Australian gateway to trusted quality information on a range of health topics and conditions. Sign up to receive free newsletters.
National Cancer Institute
US website with a focus on cancer information, including definitions, clinical trials and statistics.
Knowledge Success
Free international database covering family planning, breastfeeding, reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections. Previously known as Popline.
Lowitja Institute LitSearch
This search tool provides easy access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health literature in PubMed.
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.

Licensing information: Please read what you can and can't do with each resource in the A-Z Databases under 'License Information'. Queries can be sent to the Publisher Licensing Consultant.

Open Access Journals

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.’

DOAJ - Directory of Open Access Journals
Provides full text access to open access research articles.

BioMedCentral
Publishes almost 250 peer-reviewed open access journals on various health topics, including allergies, cancer, family practice, medical ethics, medical research methodology and women's health.

BMJOpen
An online-only, open access general medical journal, dedicated to publishing medical research from all disciplines and therapeutic areas.

PLOS
Open access publisher of peer-reviewed scientific and medical research.

PubMedCentral
Linked with PubMed, this is the repository of open access articles available in PubMed.