When writing your coursework you should use a range of academic sources, including national guidelines, books and journal articles. These can be supplemented by materials found on websites.
You can find books and e-books held by the University Library using the Enterprise search box below.
You can find the journals, and articles, held by the University Library use the Summon search box also below. Use these in combination with the journals you may be able to access through your employer using an NHS Athens logon.
You also have access to a range of databases to find relevant academic articles. Access key databases using the links below.
It is important that you use reputable and reliable websites. The information at the bottom of this page on the left and the right provides guidance on how to identify reliable sources of information on the internet.
To find books on a topic search the Library catalogue Enterprise using the search box below, or via the Library homepage. The catalogue will show you both printed and e-books materials.
When searching for books you will need to keep your search quite general, as you will usually just be searching book titles and not the contents eg if you were searching for books on eczema you could also try searching for dermatitis.
For information on borrowing books see the section on the Library resources page.
There are a number of sources you can use to find journal articles.
Summon (use the search box below) - is an excellent starting point as this searches across all our online sources, so you should be able to access everything you find there.
There are a number of other sources you can use to find journal articles and other types of publication - see the Key databases box for links to these.
These are the major resources for finding literature and information.
Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.
Please note, due to licensing restrictions students and staff must access the BNF and BNF for Children on the MedicinesComplete platform. Use of the NICE BNF platform is only permitted for those working for, or on placement with, the NHS.
References to journal articles in the biomedical sciences. Covers 1950 to the present day. Includes 'In press' articles.
Systematic reviews, protocols and trials on the effects of interventions in health care. Free to UK residents
Gives references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents in all subjects. Also offers extensive tools to analyse results, and measure impact for articles, journals and authors.
Use to search across a number of databases covering a range of subject areas. Provides references to journal articles, books, conference papers, patents, research data and other materials.
Gives references to journal articles, books and chapters in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines including education, linguistics, medicine, and physiology. Includes links to full-text articles in PsycARTICLES.
NHS Athens resource
If you have an NHS Athens login you can make full use their Knowledge and Library Hub for literature searching and accessing resources. Even without the login you can search, but you won't be able to access the full resources via the Hub.
Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.
Please note, due to licensing restrictions students and staff must access the BNF and BNF for Children on the MedicinesComplete platform. Use of the NICE BNF platform is only permitted for those working for, or on placement with, the NHS.
Most of these resources are freely available. Those only available to University members have red icons next to the name.
General sources
ImageQuest is a high resolution image library of over 2.7 million images which are rights-cleared for academic use from various collections including National Geographic, Getty Images, National History Museum and more.
Anatomy
Visible Body is a comprehensive resource of 3D interactive modules illustrating the basic movement of a variety of muscles throughout the human body as they interact with bone, nerves, and ligaments.
Diseases and conditions
This short playlist shows you how to prepare for and perform a literature search. The first video introduces literature searches and their role. The second video covers using the search operators AND and OR to create a search statement, and explains the role of wildcards and truncation in constructing a comprehensive search.
We also have the following generic guide to literature searching and searching databases:
Use the template below to help plan out your own literature search - identifying keywords and synonyms. There's also an example to help guide you and an example of adapting a search for different databases.
Before believing the information given on a web site, or quoting it in your essay or project, think about the following:
Authority
Accuracy and reliability
Currency
Audience / relevance
Feel!