Bibliographic databases in psychiatry: an overview

Abstract

Literature searching has been revolutionised by the desktop computer. Today it is almost inconceivable to be without the tools to efficiently and comprehensively examine the medical literature. However, as this biomedical literature grows ever more vast, researchers and clinicians need to know which of the many biomedical and psychiatric databases will best cover their particular area of interest. No databases can cover everything. It is necessary to select the most appropriate source of information for the task at hand and for a literature review this will usually entail the use of multiple methods of data collection. In this brief review databases of particular interest to psychiatrists are discussed.

Evidence-based psychopharmacology 2. Appraising a systematic review: is risperidone better than conventional antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia?

“…For psychopharmacological articles, Embase probably has a better coverage. Using Psychlit is unlikely to provide any more references than Medline and Embase combined (Mitchell et al, 1997).…”