Specialist resources - Medicine and Health Sciences

Specialist resources to support your studies including grey literature.

Resources by type

General reference resources

Reference material can consist of a range of different types of material providing you with background information. The information can either be general or related to specific subject areas. Typical examples of reference material include:

Dictionaries
Biographical dictionaries
Encyclopaedias
Official publications

Guidance on using general reference resources

Anatomy resources

Anatomy resources
Resource	Description
Anatomy.tv	3D computer-generated models of human anatomy.
Acland's Video Atlas of Human Anatomy	Series of videos of the human anatomy

Evidence-based resources

Using evidence-based information ensures you are looking at the most authoritative and up-to-date information on a topic

Evidence-based resources
Resource	Description
Cochrane Library	Search for systematic reviews and clinical trials.
Epistemonikos	Database of health evidence to support decision making.
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence)	Provides access to a range of evidence-based resources including Guidance, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, and the BNF (British National Formulary).
Trip (Turning Research into Practice)	Clinical search engine linking to peer-reviewed journals, images and patient information.

Guidelines and prescribing

You can access the following resources via NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence):

NICE guidance
BNF (British National Formulary)
BNFC (British National Formulary for Children)

Critical appraisal resources

Use these resources to help you critically evaluate information you find through your literature searches.

Critical appraisal resources
Resource	Description
CASP: Checklists	Produced by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme.
CEBM: Critical Appraisal tools	Produced by the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine.

Grey literature

Grey literature is material which sits outside of traditional publishing channels, but which may still be useful, particularly if you are doing a systematic review. It includes conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, reports, and ongoing trials.

You don’t have to search every resource regardless – consider where you are most likely to find grey literature of relevance to your topic and focus your searches there.

Conference proceedings

Conference proceedings report on presentations or posters delivered at conferences, seminars and workshops. They are often the first announcement of new research.

Conference Proceedings Citation Index – Science – access via the Web of Science Core Collection
Scopus – covers life sciences, social sciences, physical sciences and health sciences

Guidance on finding conference proceedings

Theses and dissertations

Theses and dissertations often report original research.

Theses and dissertations resources
Resource	Description
DART Europe	Electronic theses repositories from European research libraries
EThOS	The UK's national thesis service, published by the British Library.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations	Resources from universities and libraries worldwide
Proquest Dissertations and Theses	Collections from around the world.

Guidance on finding theses

Reports

Reports, newsletters and discussion papers are often freely available from research and charity organisations.

Guidance on finding reports

Clinical trials

Clinical trials resources
Resource	Description
CENTRAL	Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials – access via the Cochrane Library.
ClinicalTrials.gov	Maintained by the US National Library of Medicine.
ICTRP	International Clinical Trials Registry Platform maintained by the World Health Organization.

Researching employers

As you progress through your degree course, you may want to find information on potential or current employers. This can be done through professional organisations, business databases, careers sites, and news sources.

Guidance on researching employers

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