LibGuides: Pharmacy: Websites

Key websites

General resources

DrugBank
Use to find detailed drug data with comprehensive drug target information

Pharmacology

British Pharmacopoeia [full-text]
Access to the latest edition of The British Pharmacopoeia (BP), the leading collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances.

The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology
This website is an authoritative source of pharmacological information developed by The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) and the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR).
RxList: the Internet Drug Index
Founded by pharmacists in 1995, this is the premier online drug index resource. It offers detailed and current pharmaceutical information (such as articles and data) on brand and generic drugs.

Medicinal chemistry

The Binding Database
Database of measured binding affinities, focusing chiefly on the interactions of protein considered to be drug-targets with small, drug-like molecules.
ChEMBL
Database of bioactive molecules with drug-like properties. Brings together chemical, bioactivity and genomic data to aid the translation of genomic information into effective new drugs.
PubChem
Search substance, compound or bioassay databases to find chemical information including structures, synonyms, molecular weight and formula.

Pharmacy practice

BNF (on the NICE website) see also MedicinesComplete
Browsing access to substances covered in the BNF

MedicinesComplete [full-text]
Provides access to the British National Formulary, British National Formulary for Children and Stockley’s Drug Interactions.

NICE guidelines
Evidence-based recommendations on health and social care.

Other useful sites

NHS Choices
This website produced by the NHS gives a good context of the information available to patients.
PJ Online
PJ Online provides a wide range of information, including news, full online access to three journal titles (Pharmaceutical Journal, Clinical Pharmacist and Hospital Pharmacist), advice for working pharmacists and career resources for Pharmacy students.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Student membership is free to all students based in Great Britain. The Society's Library includes many online resources and a free database search service for members.
British Pharmacological Society
The BPS is the professional association for pharmacologists in the UK and is one of the leading pharmacological societies in the world.
National Pharmacy Association
Trade association for UK community pharmacy owners.
Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
The PSNC promotes and supports the interests of all NHS community pharmacies in England.
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
The ABPI represents research-based biopharmaceutical companies in the UK.
Nursing & Midwifery Council
The regulatory body for nurses and midwives in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland that sets standards of education, training, conduct and performance so that nurses and midwives can deliver high quality healthcare throughout their careers.

The electronic Drug Tariff
The current edition of the National Health Service Drug Tariff for England and Wales.
Electronic Medicines Compendium
This database contains the latest approved prescribing information (SPCs) and patient information leaflets for licensed medicines. You can also find information about interactions, side effects and dosages.
European Medicines Agency
The European Medicines Agency is responsible for the scientific evaluation of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the European Union.
General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the independent regulator for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises in Great Britain.
Health in Wales
Health in Wales is the Welsh NHS website. It provides reliable information on essential health matters and is aimed at the general public.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
The MHRA, an executive agency of the Department of Health, is responsible for the regulation of medicines and medical devices and equipment used in healthcare and the investigation of harmful incidents.
Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC)
The SMC provide advice to NHS Boards and their Area Drug and Therapeutics Committees (ADTCs) across Scotland about the clinical and cost-effectiveness of all newly licensed medicines, all new formulations of existing medicines and new indications for established products. The website contains a searchable database of reviews.
Specialist Pharmacy Service
This organisation is a part of the NHS and focuses on the effective use of medicines. It's free of charge for GPs and pharmacists.
UK Medicines Information
This website hosts the UKMi strategy, policies, clinical governance standards and training materials, together with minutes of meetings of the UKMi Executive and its working groups.

Clinical trials
An international database containing details of completed and ongoing clinical trials on human participants, maintained by the US National Institutes of Health.
World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform
World Health Organization database which allows you to search clinical trials registered in the US, EU states, China and many other countries.
Prospero
An international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
The British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) provides summaries of the best available evidence on new medicines and selected unlicensed and off-label medicines.
NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries
The NICE summaries provide evidence on current best practice and guidance on managing many common diseases and ailments.
NICE Pathways
An interactive tool for health professionals providing fast access to NICE guidance and associated products, including standards, technology appraisals and clinical and public health guidance.
NHS Evidence Health Information Resources
The mission of this digital library (formerly the National Library for Health) 'is to provide clinicians with access to the best current know-how and knowledge to support healthcare-related decisions'. Includes The Cochrane Library.
The Knowledge Network Scotland
An online library providing access to evidence, journals and e-books. The website also offers e-learning and community tools.
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) develops evidence based clinical practice guidelines for the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland, which can be accessed on this website.
Trip Medical Database
A medical search engine with emphasis on evidence based medicine & clinical guidelines and queries.

NHS Statistics
Statistics on a range of health and care subjects from NHS England.
Public Health England Statistics
Statistics on public health topics including health protection and health improvement.

General sources

Britannica ImageQuest [images]
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.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Image Galleries
Includes albums of scientific images, illustrations and infographics.
Pixabay
Pixabay provide stock photo-style images and photographs which are free to re-use and do not require attribution (although it's always good practice to do so).
PubMed Central Advanced Search to find images
Use the 'All Fields' picklist to select 'Figure/Table caption' to find images of a specific subject in the articles included in PubMed Central.

Anatomy

Bassett Collection of Stereoscopic Images of Human Anatomy
Creative Commons-licensed photographs and matching diagrams of human anatomy.
Gray's Anatomy Online
An online version of the 1918 edition, including over 1,200 illustrations.
Injurymap Anatomical Images
Free images of anatomical injuries.

Diseases & conditions

Hardin MD medical picture gallery
Gives links to images of medical conditions and diseases.
Interactive Dermatology Atlas
Contains more than 1000 photographs. Search by diagnosis, lesion characteristics, patient demographics, and treatments.
The Internet Pathology Laboratory for Medical Education
Over 2700 images with text that illustrate gross and microscopic pathologic findings along with radiologic imaging associated with human disease conditions.

Search engines

Google Scholar
Use to search for scholarly literature (journal articles, books, patents) from a variety of sources, including academic publishers, professional societies, and online repositories.

Semantic Scholar
A free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature

Tips on evaluating websites

Before believing the information given on a web site, or quoting it in your essay or project, think about the following:

Authority

Who is responsible for the page/site?
Is it a reliable organisation (eg a well known university) or a subject expert?
Can you trust them?

Accuracy and reliability

Is the information correct?
Is the grammar and spelling correct?
Is it complete, or are they just giving one point of view?
Do they have their own agenda eg political organisations?
Is the information fact or opinion?

Currency

Can you tell how up-to-date it is?
Is it regularly updated?
You don't want to quote out-of-date information

Audience / relevance

Is the information of the right level to be quoted in your project? If it is aimed at the general public or school children it might not be!

Feel!

Is the site well structured and easy to navigate?
Are the links from the page up-to-date and valid?
If it is well designed and maintained then you can feel more confident about the information it provides

Guides and tutorials

CPPE (Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education)
The CPPE offers continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities to all pharmacy professionals, as well as selected programmes for Pharmacy students and preregistration trainees.
Engage in research
This site answers a wide range of questions about research and the scientific method. Includes interactive elements designed to test your knowledge.

Google Scholar search

Use Google Scholar to find journal articles and other materials on the web. See our Google Scholar page for info on setting up preferences to see which articles are covered by Library subscriptions and to export details to EndNote.