Comparing Database Features
This table summarizes features found in databases widely used in the health and life sciences.
|
PubMed |
BIOSIS Previews |
PsycINFO |
Web of Science Knowledge |
CINAHL Plus |
| Subject scope |
Medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, preclinical sciences |
Biology (e.g., botany, zoology microbiology), agriculture, ecology, medicine, pharmacology, biochemistry, biophysics, bioengineering, biotechnology |
Psychology, psychiatry, education, business, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, law, linguistics, social work |
Wide multidisciplinary coverage of the sciences and social sciences |
Nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health, allied health disciplines |
| Format scope |
Journal articles |
Journal articles, book chapters, meeting publications, conference proceedings, patents |
Journal articles, conference proceedings, books, reports, dissertations |
Journal articles, reviews, corrections, discussions, letters, meeting abstracts, grant number |
Journal articles, health care books, nursing dissertations, conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals, book chapters |
| Years covered |
1948–present |
1926–present |
1806–present |
Science Citation Index: 1900–present;
Social Sciences Citation Index: 1956–present;
Arts and Humanities Citation Index: 1975–present |
1937–present |
| Default search |
Runs most appropriate search |
Phrase |
Phrase |
Phrase |
Two adjacent words |
| Truncation symbol(s) |
* |
* (any group of characters);
? (single character) |
* |
* (any group of characters);
? (single character) |
* (any group of characters);
? (single character) |
| Types of searches available |
Keyword, phrase, author, title, subject/MeSH |
Topic, author, title, address, keyword, Boolean, exact phrase |
Exact phrase, all of the words, any of the words |
Topic, author, title, address, keyword, Boolean, exact phrase, words in same sentence |
Basic: Standard (use Boolean operators), all of the words, any of the words, exact phrase |
| Search options |
MeSH Browser, Single Citation Matcher, Batch Citation Matcher, Clinical Queries, Linkout, Explode |
Author, Title, Journal, Search Fields/Index, Tools (Thesaurus) Combine, Basic, Explode |
Advanced Search, Browse Indexes, Thesaurus Search, Search History/Alerts, Explode |
Cited Reference, Topic, Author, Title, Address, Advanced, Combine Search Sets |
Advanced: Limiters (see below), Expanders (Full Text Search, Related Words), Search History/Combine Sets, Journal, Explode |
| Limits |
Publication types, age groups, date, language, items with abstracts, human/animal, subsets, gender, specific database field |
English, abstracts, review articles, human, microorganisms, plants, latest update, full text, new taxa, human, organisms, animals, date |
Latest update, journal articles only, English only, dates, age, popultion, audience |
Date(s), database, language, document type |
Basic: date, publication, journal subset, publication type
Advanced: abstract available, author, language, gender, age related, special interest |
| Link to UCLA collections |
UC-eLinks |
UC-eLinks |
UC-eLinks |
UC-eLinks |
UC-eLinks |
| Print, email, download results |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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