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Sources of evidence in human medicine

Sources of evidence

 

CATs, systematic reviews & evidence-based reports

  • BestBets - best evidence topics (BETs) developed by the Emergency Department of Manchester Royal Infirmary, UK
  • The Campbell Library - systematic reviews on crime and justice, education, international development, and social welfare
  • Cochrane Reviews - systematic reviews on human medicine
  • Centre for Reviews and Dissemination database - comprised of 3 databases: DARE, NHS EED and HTA. Access to systematic reviews, economic evaluations and summaries of all Cochrane reviews and protocols
  • EPC Evidence-based Reports - sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  • NICE Clinical knowledge summaries - summary of the current evidence base and practical guidance on best practice in respect of over 300 common and/or significant primary care presentations
  • Trials - open access journal encompasing all aspects of the performance and findings of randomised controlled trials
  • Trip Database - a clinical search engine to access high-quality research evidence to support practice

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Journal and bibliographic databases

  • Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) - coverage on health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education
  • BIOSIS Previews - largest coverage on the literature of biological sciences, includes Biological Abstracts®
  • The British Nursing Index (BNI) - coverage on all aspects of nursing and midwifery since 1985
  • Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) - coverage on all aspects of nursing, occupational therapy, emergency services and social services in health care
  • EMBASE - a major pharmacological and biomedical database
  • Educational Resources Information (ERIC) - coverage on educational literature including school health, mental health and patient education [free online access]
  • Evidence-based medicine (1995-current) - journal published by BMJ [access via subscription]
  • LILACS - A Latin American and Caribbean health research database (free online access)
  • MEDLINE - journal citations and abstracts for biomedical literature, produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed provides free access to MEDLINE)
  • The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) - records of randomised trials, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines in physiotherapy (free online access)
  • PscycINFO - covers the literature of psychology and related fields
  • Social Care Online - coverage of all aspects of social care and social work (free online access)
  • Scopus - peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources covering the scientific, technical, medical and social sciences literature
  • Toxline - information on toxicology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and environmental pollutants, produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (free online access)

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Data

  • ChartsBin - data visualisation tool to quickly and easily create rich interactive visualisations with their own data
  • Gapminder -  provider of statistical data showing global development trends in colourful graphics
  • Global Health Observatory - WHO's gateway to health-related statistics from around the world

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EBM organisations

  • The Campbell Collaboration (C2) - an international research network producing systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions.
  • Centre for Evidence Based Medicine - based at the University of Oxford, it aims to develop, teach and promote evidence-based health care
  • Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice - The Bond University Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice (CREBP) is associated with the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at the University of Oxford
  • The Cochrane Collaboration - a global independent network of health practitioners, researchers, and patient advocates, making vast amounts of evidence generated through research useful for informing decisions about health
  • James Lind Library - founded by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh to improve public and professional general knowledge about fair tests of treatments in healthcare and its history

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