On This Page
Repositories and Lists of Databases | Databases | Specialized Search Engines | PubMed Tools | Google Databases and Preformulated Search Engines | Clinical Trials Resources | Selected Clinical Guidelines Resources | Regulatory Information | Regulatory Information - FDA | Government Documents | United States Health Resources | Repositories for Theses, Dissertations, and More | Data v. Statistics: What's the Difference | Raw Data Sets | Commercial Data Sets | Statistics Resources | AHRQ Resources | Wright State University Libraries Statistics Guides | Grants | Conference Abstracts | Organizations / Associations
Repositories and Lists of Databases
- Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)Comprehensive resource that includes links to national and international Health Technology Assessment web sites, drug and device regulatory agencies, clinical trial registries and other tools. Search the site.
- OpenGrey - System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE)Open access repository to 700,000 bibliographical references of grey literature produced in Europe. Covers science, technology, biomedical science, economics, social science and humanities.
- Public Health DatabasesA directory of public health databases. Click the Free Public Health Databases link for the list of open access resources. This is helpful for resources with information in specific areas of public health. Compiled by Lamar Soutter Library, UMass Medical School.
- Grey Literature in Public HealthA guide from Queen's University Library, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Source guides: USC and McMaster (see links and license below)
Databases
These resources broadly collect and index grey literature such as white papers, policy documents, summaries, and more on global health topics.
- OpenGrey - System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE)Open access repository to 700,000 bibliographical references of grey literature produced in Europe. Covers science, technology, biomedical science, economics, social science and humanities.
- Grey Literature Report - ARCHIVED ONLYNOT current. Formerly a bimonthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine alerting readers to new grey literature publications in health services research and selected urban health topics. Publication and updates ceased in 2016 and the site became inaccessible in Summer 2019. This link is a May 6, 2019 snapshot from the Web Archive.
- HSRProj (Health Services Research Projects in Progress) Advanced SearchCitations to research-in-progress funded by federal and foundation grants and contracts...It builds upon a database developed by staff of AcademyHealth and the Cecil Sheps Center at the University of North Carolina with funding from the Pew Charitable Trust. It includes over 32,000 citations to ongoing or recently completed research funded since 2000.
- NICHSR (National Information Center on Health Services Research & Health Care Technology) ONESearchRetrieve results from HSR Information Central, HSRProj, HSRR, and PHPartners in ONE search! The page includes useful links to other portals, databases, and pre-formulated search strategies. These links are also included below.
- Health Services Research Information Central (HSRIC)Includes links to Health Services Research general resources and topics.
- The Community Guide - Community Preventive Services Task Force FindingsContains findings on programs and policies identified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve health and prevent disease in local communities. Includes topics, Task Force reports, and other publications.
- HSRR (Health Services and Sciences Research Resources)Information about research datasets and instruments/indices employed in Health Services Research, Behavioral and Social Sciences and Public Health with links to PubMed.
- How to find toxicology informationA list of NLM products and other services that cover information previously available in TOXNET (which has been retired).
- Comparative Effectiveness Research & ResourcesA list of links from the Taubman Health Sciences Library, University of Michigan.
- EldisProvides free access to relevant, up-to-date and diverse research on international development issues. The database includes over 50,000 summaries and provides free links to full-text research and policy documents from over 8,000 publishers. Each document is selected by members of the editorial team.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Specialized Search Engines
- WorldWideScience.org: The Global Science GatewayWorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals. WorldWideScience.org accelerates scientific discovery and progress by providing one-stop searching of databases from around the world. More information
- MedNar - Deep Web Search EngineSearch over 300 authoritative science and technology collections. Results include both black and grey literature. Unlike Google, a Mednar search occurs in real-time, retrieving relevant medical information as if you were going to each individual website yourself. Because Mednar is a publicly available search, it can't retrieve results from your subscription or premium medical resources.
- Science.govGateway to U.S. Federal Science. Search over 60 databases and over 2,200 selected websites from 15 federal agencies, for research and development results. Topics include health and science, agriculture, environment, informatics, and more.
- MetaLib - from the Government Printing OfficeWelcome to MetaLib, a service of the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications! MetaLib is a federated search engine that searches multiple U.S. Federal government databases, retrieving reports, articles, and citations while providing direct links to selected resources available online. Refine your search results by exploring the various topics, date ranges, and author names.
- AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) Research Tools & DataFind AHRQ research results, including full research reports and statistical briefs.
- BASE Search EngineBielefeld University Library's search engine for academic web resources. BASE searches over 6,000 sources, and about 60% of the indexed documents are available via Open Access. More information
- OpenMD.comOpenMD searches billions of documents from government agencies, global health organizations, medical journals, and reference sites.
- TRIP DatabaseSearch engine that collects results from a number of internet sites (mostly based in UK).
- Microsoft AcademicMicrosoft Academic is a free search engine that searches over 170 academic publications via semantic search technology instead of keyword searching.
Source guide: USC (see link and license below)
PubMed Tools
- NLM Resources for Informing Comparative EffectivenessThis page provides specialized searches of published research - PubMed - and research still in progress - HSRProj, and ClinicalTrials.gov - to help inform investigations of comparative effectiveness. See the description below the search boxes for more information about this project.
- PubMed Health Services Research (HSR) QueriesProvides specialized PubMed searches on healthcare quality and costs.
Source guide: USC (see link and license below)
Google Databases and Preformulated Search Engines
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowIndexes research literature across a wide range of disciplines and formats. Use the library connection to gScholar to get more attached full-text articles. Automatically searches more than seven million patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). US patent documents date back to 1790, EPO and WIPO to 1978. Search by criteria such as patent number, inventor, classification, or filing date.To search for legal documents, select the radio dial for "Case Law".
- Google PatentsGoogle Patents uses optical character recognition (OCR) to extract textual information from historical patent documents, pre-1971. The extraction process isn’t perfect, however, and inaccurate textual recognition is possible, especially for historic documents that are poor quality. If you find a document difficult to read, machines will experience even more challenges reading the text.
- Google custom search for Non-Governmental OrganizationsSearch of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) websites.
- Google custom search for Intergovernmental OrganizationsSearch for research on intergovernmental organization topics.
- Google Think Tank SearchThink Tank Search is a custom Google search of more than 600 think tank websites. For the purposes of this search, think tanks are defined as institutions affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity.
- Google Advanced Power SearchingUnder the Advanced Search Tools column, select "Gaining an International Perspective" to learn how to search Google indexes for individual countries, to search content crawled from local materials.
Source guide: USC (see link and license below)
Clinical Trials Resources
Trial registries can be used to search for protocols and to identify unpublished studies and outcomes. Resources with the broadest global perspective are listed first.
- WHO International Clinical Trials Registry PlatformCentral database with access to clinical trial data sets from international trial registries around the world.
- ISRCTN RegistryThe ISRCTN (International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number) registers all clinical research studies (proposed, ongoing or completed) and provides each one with a unique identifying number. All study records in the database are searchable and freely accessible.
- Clinical Trials Registers (National and International Registers and Portals)International listing of clinical trials registers compiled by the York Health Economics Consortium, University of York, UK.
- Listing of Clinical Trial RegistriesListing of 24 portals and registries from the Department of Health and Human Services.
- ClinicalTrials.govU.S. National Institutes of Health registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world.
- MEDLINE Databank Sources (list at clinicaltrials.gov)MEDLINE citations may carry the databank names listed in the two tables on this page. The ClinicalTrial data repositories are listed in the first table.
- EU Clinical Trials DatabaseAllows you to search for protocol and results information on interventional clinical trials that are conducted in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) and clinical trials conducted outside the EU / EEA that are linked to European paediatric-medicine development.
- CenterWatch (Clinical Trials Listing Service)Search clinical trials or browse by medical condition, therapeutic area, or location.
- Center for Cancer Research Clinical Trials (National Cancer Institute)"All NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR) clinical trials take place at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center are open to patients with cancer, HIV, or immunodeficiency disorders, regardless of where they live in the United States."
- The Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) ProjectA digital repository for clinical research data. The YODA project provides access to the clinical datasets by request. This is useful for gaining access to complete clinical datasets.
- Open Trials (beta)An open, online database of information about the world’s clinical research trials. Matches documents and data for each trial including registry entries, papers, regulatory documents; methods and results; researchers, clinical study reports, and more.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Selected Clinical Guidelines Resources
- ECRI Guidelines Trust (EGT)"This centralized repository includes evidence-based guidance developed by nationally- and internationally-recognized medical organizations and medical specialty societies." ECRI Institute was formerly the sole contractor for the National Guideline Clearinghouse. Guidelines Trust Inclusion Criteria
- CPG Infobase: Clinical Practice GuidelinesCanadian clinical practice guidelines.
- NICE Guidelines (UK)National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - United Kingdom.
- TRIP DatabaseSearch engine that collects results from a number of internet sites (mostly based in UK).
- SumSearch 2Web-based search tool for finding medical and health care evidence. From the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA).
- Guideline Central Summaries"Partners with over thirty-five medical societies and government agencies to provide quick-reference tools that physicians can rely on for credible guidance in the management of a medical condition."
Source Guide: partially drawn from McMaster University
Regulatory Information
Clinical and statistical reviews can provide information on directions for use, efficacy and effectiveness, and safety. Some of the more commonly searched resources are listed below.
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)Site provides access to U.S. healthcare data and reports on quality, costs, outcomes, and patient safety.
- Drug Information PortalUse one search box to search many drug information resources created by the US National Library of Medicine and other United States government agencies. Search by drug name or category.
- Health Canada - Drugs and Health ProductsHealth Canada regulates drugs and health products in Canada. Find reports and publications, recalls, legislation and guidelines, and additional information.
- Heads of Medicines Agencieshuman and veterinary - European Union
- European Medicines AgencyThe EMA evaluates and supervises medicine for human and veterinary use.
- Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency - UK (MHRA)The MHRA is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK.
- Espacenet - European Patent Office (EPO)Search patents registered with the European Patent Office and additional worldwide patents. Includes machine translations of patents.
- International Imperative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)International Initiative for Impact Evaluation- this site contains policy statements, systematic reviews and a repository of impact evaluations.
Source guides: USC and Wichita State
Regulatory Information - FDA
FDA resources are some of the main resources to search for grey literature, particularly for documents about unpublished clinical trials. The most commonly searched resources are Drugs@FDA and Devices@FDA.
- U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationThis agency regulates medical devices, food safety, drugs, vaccines, cosmetics, and tobacco. Find data on the methods of regulations, ways to report violations, lists of safety alerts and recalls, and approved products in each of these categories.
- Drugs@FDA: FDA Approved Drug ProductsIncludes basic information about all FDA approved drugs, recent news on drug approvals, and drug safety information.
- Devices@FDADevices@FDA is a catalog of cleared and approved medical device information from fda. it includes links to the device summary information, manufacturer, approval date, user instructions, and other consumer information. Devices@FDA searches the following databases: PMN-510(k) remarket Notification PMA-Premarket Approval
Source guides: USC and Wichita State (see links and license below)
Government Documents
- NIH RePORTer This link opens in a new window
A searchable database of federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, hospitals, and other research institutions, maintained by the National Institute of Health. Replaces the NIH-CRSP 1972-1995 (Computer Retrieval of Information and Scientific Projects) database.
- National Technical Reports Library
Search by author, title, or agency to find technical reports. Some are available in full-text. The NTRL was created by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).
- HSRProj ((Health Services Research Projects in Progress) Advanced SearchCitations to research-in-progress funded by federal and foundation grants and contracts...It builds upon a database developed by staff of AcademyHealth and the Cecil Sheps Center at the University of North Carolina with funding from the Pew Charitable Trust. It includes over 32,000 citations to ongoing or recently completed research funded since 2000.
- AHRQ Effective Healthcare Program for Consumers, Clinicians, and PolicymakersFree research summaries on various health topics; i.e. policy reports, white papers, technical briefs, etc.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - UKGuidelines for United Kingdom (UK) National Health Services (NHS).
- Government ResourcesWright State University Libraries guide to government resources.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
United States Health Resources
Additional U.S. Resources
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Databases and ResourcesAlphabetical listing of links to all NIH databases and resources. Search by subject as well.
- US Department of Health and Human ServicesHHS is the U.S. government’s principal agency for health protection. Content includes news, grants, prevention, and regulation information. Under the HHS Secretary tab find links to a blog, speeches, op-eds and more.
- County Health Rankings and RoadmapsA program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
- CDC The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)NIOSHTIC-2 is a searchable bibliographic database of occupational safety and health publications.
- SafetyLit.orgInjury prevention literature.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Repositories for Theses, Dissertations, and More
Use these resources to search for theses and dissertations.
- Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center (OhioLINK ETD) This link opens in a new window
A free repository of full-text masters' theses and doctoral dissertations from graduate students in participating Ohio colleges and universities. Also known as the OhioLINK ETD.
- Dissertations & Theses: A&I This link opens in a new window
DTA&I, also known as Dissertation Abstracts, provides citations to doctoral dissertations and masters theses from North American institutions published since 1861 and European universities since 1988.
- Open Access Theses and Dissertations This link opens in a new window
A resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published worldwide contributed by over 1000 colleges, universities, and research institutions. Also known as the OATD.
- Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)International list of links to electronic theses and dissertations databases.
- OpenDOAR - Directory of Open Access RepositoriesA directory of open access repository, you can search for repositories or repository contents. Good for identifying data repositories for your own data or finding raw datasets.
- OAIsterOAIster searches freely available Open Access electronic documents and resources. Content includes theses, technical reports, research papers, and more
- re3data - Registry of Research Data RepositoriesA global registry of research data repositories and contents. This registry can be used to search for a data repository or datasets. Good for identifying data repositories for your own data or finding raw datasets.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Data v. Statistics: What's the Difference?
- Data Module #1: What is Research Data? - Data and StatisticsDescribes the difference between data and statistics. From Macalester College, St. Paul Minnesota.
Raw Data Sets
- Data Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Access quality research data from repositories around the world. Includes an index of datasets in the social sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences.
Statistics Resources
- National Center for Health StatisticsThis federal government site collects vital statistics gathered nationally or by individual states and makes them available for consumers, clinicians, and researchers.
- CDC Data & StatisticsComprehensive list of links to data and statistics by topic, as well as tools and resources.
- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) - from the CDCThe data in the weekly MMWR are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health departments. The reporting week concludes at close of business on Friday; compiled data on a national basis are officially released to the public on the succeeding Friday.
- HealthData.govData on a wide range of topics, including environmental health, medical devices, Medicare & Medicaid, social services, community health, mental health, and substance abuse, and more. The data is collected and supplied from agencies from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as state partners.
- Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services - Interactive ToolsData and information specific to Medicare, Medicaid, or specific health care topics or settings of care.
- DATA 2020The interactive data tool for data and information related the Healthy People 2020 objectives.
- International Data Base - US Census BureauFrom the U.S. Census Bureau. Offers a variety of demographic indicators like mid-year population; fertility, mortality, and migration rates for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more.
- EuroStatEuropean Union's database of statistics that enables comparisons between European countries and regions.
- Canadian Institute for Health InformationA broad range of health databases, measurements and standards on Canadian health.
- Global Health ObservatoryGlobal Health Observatory (GHO) is the World Health Organization's gateway to health-related statistics from around the world.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
AHRQ Resources
- AHRQ - Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS)CAHPS surveys ask consumers and patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with health care.
- AHRQ HCUPnetHCUPnet is a free, on-line query system that gives access to publicly available health care databases. Generate tables and graphs on national and regional statistics and trends for community hospitals in the U.S.
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality")"The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the United States. MEPS is the most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage."
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Wright State University Libraries Statistics Guides
- Statistical Data GuideHelp finding and using various sources of statistical data, including demographic and economic, health and vital, crime, educational, international, political, and more.
- Health Statistics GuideInformation resources for finding health-related statistical data.
Grants
These resources can be used to identify grant numbers, titles, or names of principal investigators. This information can then be used to search PubMed or other other databases to find related publications.
- AHRQ Grants by StateThis site contains a searchable database of grants funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
- NIH RePORTer This link opens in a new window
A searchable database of federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, hospitals, and other research institutions, maintained by the National Institute of Health. Replaces the NIH-CRSP 1972-1995 (Computer Retrieval of Information and Scientific Projects) database.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Conference Abstracts
These resources can be searched for conference papers and abstracts. Be sure to search the websites of individual organizations as well.
- BMC ProceedingsOpen access journal publishing proceedings of conferences, including both peer-reviewed full-length articles and collections of meeting abstracts.
- PapersFirst This link opens in a new window
Query an index of papers collected from every congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received at The British Library. Use this to search for published papers by title author or professional group. Use Proceedings First to identify the publication of record of professional events
- Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new windowThis option will search a combination of the Clarivate science, social science, and arts and humanities citation databases, and conference citations in science and social science starting with 1990. You can choose to search the conference proceedings citation indexes only or limit your search by changing the "Topic" drop down menu to "Confeerence"
- CINAHL This link opens in a new windowSearch comprehensive coverage of the English language journal literature related to nursing and the allied health disciplines. Limit by publication type "Proceedings" to find conferences.
- APA PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowIndexes psychology literature and related disciplines including psychiatry, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, cognitive science, and linguistics. Includes journals and book chapters. Use Historic PsycINFO to identify literature published as early as the 1920s. Links occur to full-text when available. A limited number of conference proceedings published in book format are indexed. Select the "Conference Proceedings" option under "Book Type" to narrow retrievals to these publications.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Organizations / Associations
- GreyNet International Directory of Organizations in Grey LiteratureInternational Directory of Organizations in Grey Literature.
- MedlinePlus - OrganizationsLinks to organizations providing health information, primarily within the United States.
- United Nations Information CentresLinks to a global list of information centers containing country-specific information.
Source Guide: USC (see link and license below)
Handbook
Searching the grey literature: A handbook for finding annual reports, working papers, white papers, government documents, and more [Dunbar Library print copy] by Call Number: Z1033.G73 B66 2018ISBN: 9781538100639Publication Date: 2018
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Permissions and License Information
We gratefully acknowledge that the content of this guide (including links, descriptions, and selected categories) is reused/remixed from the following guides and sources under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommerical ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Health Sciences Grey Literature, University of Southern California Libraries, Norris Medical Library
- Grey Literature [Video] Tutorial, Western University
- NURS 826 / 899B: Evidence Based Nursing - Grey Literature (reused from USC Norris Library), Wichita State University
- Finding Grey Literature, McMaster University Health Sciences Library
Confirmation of the Creative Commons status of the entire USC guide was also sought and received in writing from the USC Guide Author Karin Saric on 11 July 2019. Reuse permission was granted provided attribution is given.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License.