Use the databases listed on this page to find relevant information on topics in pharmacy. They will give you access to both primary and secondary sources of information.
These are the major resources for finding literature and information in this subject.
Access to the latest edition of The British Pharmacopoeia (BP), the leading collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances.
Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.
References to journal articles in the biomedical sciences. Covers 1950 to the present day. Includes 'In press' articles.
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.
These specialist sources may be useful for final year projects.
Full-text articles in the life sciences from a scholarly publishing cooperative which provides open access to quality research journals published in developing countries. Covers health (tropical medicine, infectious diseases, epidemiology, emerging new diseases), biodiversity, the environment, conservation and international development.
An integrated chemical information system. Use to find physical properties, structures and reactions. Includes inorganic (Gmelin) and organic chemistry (Beilstein). also gives references to articles and patents.
Chemical information, plus references to articles and patents in this subject.
Register to use SciFinder now (University username and password required)
Registration is subject to the terms of the CAS Privacy Policy
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.
Most of these resources are freely available. Those only available to University members have red icons next to the name.
General resources
Pharmacology
Access to the latest edition of The British Pharmacopoeia (BP), the leading collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances.
Medicinal chemistry
Pharmacy practice
Other useful sites
Most of these resources are freely available. Those only available to University members have red icons next to the name.
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.
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.
This series of three videos (available via the tabs in this box) cover:
You will need to login using your University email address and password to view the videos.
We also have the following generic guide to literature searching and searching databases:
Literature search plan template and example
Use the following documents to help you plan your literature search to make it as comprehensive as possible.
This video covers using Summon and Web of Science to find journal articles and the search techniques to use to create a comprehensive search
This video covers searching PubMed - basic, advanced and MeSH searching tips.
An introduction to planning your systematic review.
You will need to login using your University email address and password to view the videos.
See also our detailed guide to doing a systematic review:
This video covers the first four steps in doing a systematic review, including creating a protocol and searching for literature.
This video covers the fifth and sixth steps in doing a systematic review. It focuses on using Desktop EndNote to manage references and screening the literature.
The final in a series of four videos on systematic reviews which covers writing it up.
Most health-related systematic reviews will involve a search on PubMed. But do you know how to create the most effective search strategy to take advantage of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)? This video created by John Hopkins University explains all the steps involved in ensuring your search is as comprehensive as possible.
If you are on campus you will be able to access most e-journals and e-books, and some databases, without entering a username and password because your IP address identifies you as being at the University of Reading.
For any that require a login, see the Off-campus tab.
When you use our e-resources you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Please take a moment to look at these by following the link below:
When you are off-campus you will need to login to identify yourself as a member of the University of Reading to gain access to our protected databases, e-books and e-journals.
Your login details
You login in the same way as for Blackboard - via Microsoft. Just enter your University username followed by @student.reading.ac.uk (e.g. ab123456@student.reading.ac.uk) and your password. If this is the first time you have logged in via this method when off-campus you will be asked to complete a Multi-Factor Authentication. For more information see:
Getting to the login page...
Watch this short video on how you login to use Library resources.
Our Inter-Library Loans service can get articles, books and other publications not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).
For more information see our webpages: