Use the databases listed on this page to find relevant information on topics related to your studies. They will give you access to both primary and secondary sources of information.
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.
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
Whilst you are on placement you may be able to register for an NHS Athens account via the hospital's Library services. You will then be able to 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.
Most of these resources are freely available. Those only available to University members have red icons next to the name.
Clinical practice guidelines
Clinical skills & knowledge practice
Drug 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.
Other useful sites
Physician Associates
General medical bodies
Quality assurance frameworks
Systematic reviews, protocols and trials on the effects of interventions in health care. Free to UK residents
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.
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:
Watch this short video on how you login to use Library resources.
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.
You might have access to additional resources via your NHS Trust library. For instance, they might have access to a wider range of medical-related journals than are covered by our subscriptions. Here are a few local ones.
If you are able to register for an NHS Athens account when on placement then you can make full use of this resource for literature searching and it will give you access to more medical-related journals:
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:
In order to present fairer, more balanced academic contributions, it is important to include academic literature from the Global South. However, it can be difficult to find within English language databases full of Global North examples. This tab lists alternative search terms and strategies that might help us pick out Global South material. The other tab within this box suggests useful resources and database features.
Definitions: Global South is a term currently used to mean countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, which may be less economically developed. Global North is used to refer to countries of North America and Europe but also Australia and New Zealand, with stonger economies and influence.
Remember to include searching tricks as used in examples below:
Geographical terms
US/UK spelling and vocabulary
Be sure to incorporate in your searches different UK and American English terms and spellings, so as not to omit research from countries using one or the other language form. List alternatives with OR or insert a 'wildcard' or truncation term. Check the help on the database you are searching to find out if wildcards are supported and which symbol to use. For example:
Objective or subjective terms
Search for objective or even biased terms. For instance:
Decolonising literature searching, a detailed guide from Lancaster University Library, may provide further ideas
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 the Scopus 'Researcher Discovery' tab and limit by country of origin to connect with target areas and people.
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.
Web of Science alows you to filter results by 'Countries/Regions'.