Covid-19 resources

Library Services, University of Birmingham

Online guides are available on literature searching techniques and medical databases such as Ovid Medline, and other resources. It is important to plan and carry out a literature search using a clear structure and with accredited resources.  Bibliographic databases index peer-reviewed journals, use subject-specific indexing systems in the case of Medline (and its open-web PubMed interface), Embase and other health databases.  The following online guides from Library Services at the University of Birmingham detail search techniques and outline available resources. Please consult these before carrying out a search if you are at all unsure, or as a refresher.

• Effective Search Techniques 
• Literature Searching for MDS (Medical and Dental Sciences)
• Subject Guide - Medicine (Other subject guides also available)

NB: Access to e-resources such as Ovid Medline and subscription journals will depend on membership of University of Birmingham or other academic institutions.

To search freely available, open-access biomedical journal articles, PubMed has a filter for free full text material.

• PubMed: basic search for Covid-19 . Note the filters to the left of results: Free full text; article type (eg Systematic reviews)

The Wellcome Foundation has issued a major statement with multiple organisations as signatories:

• Sharing research data and findings relevant to the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak

From the University of Birmingham:

• Our role in combating Covid-19 - overview pages
• Study of UK dental professionals reveals extent of occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection
  • COVID-19: Seroprevalence and Vaccine Responses in UK Dental Care Professionals - UoB-led observational cohort study (Shields et al., 2021)

No system is perfect.  Notice the expression of concern for a previously accepted Lancet article, and commentary on the investigative journalism that revealed the flawed process in this case: the following are from the Lancet journal and Guardian newspaper respectively.

• Expression of concern: Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis (Lancet Editors, 2020)
• Covid-19: Lancet retracts paper that halted hydroxychloroquine trials (Boseley and Davey, 2020)

College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham (UK)

• Covid-19 research and news - from the College of Medical and Dental Sciences

National Institutes of Health (USA)

• Finding Effective Treatments for SARS-CoV-2 Variants - National Institutes of Health (USA), Covid-19 research 

UK Research and Innovation (formerly the UK Research Council)

• Coronavirus: the science explained .  " lays out the evidence and the facts about the virus, the disease, the epidemic, and its control.  (...) evidence and the facts about the virus, the disease, the epidemic, and its control. Please note, they are not intended as a source of health advice or official policy"

Wellcome

• Major research funding body
• Coronavirus (Covid-19) page: supporting global research and development.  Funding updates, news, projects
• Statement on "Sharing research data and findings relevant to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak"

Office for National Statistics

• An executive office of the UK Statistics Authority charged with collecting, producing and publishing a wide range of statistical data relating to the UK. Some areas are devolved to Governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
• Interactive map of deaths involving COVID-19 (Note: this is for England and Wales only)
• COVID-19 Datasets
• COVID-19 Publications

BMJ (British Medical Journal)

• Coronavirus (Covid-19) - latest news and research.  Open access material

Cambridge University Press

• Coronavirus Free Access Collection

Elsevier

• Novel Coronavirus Information Center.  Open access material 

Lancet journal

• Covid-19 Resource Centre.  Open access material

New England Journal of Medicine

• Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Oxford University Press

• Covid-19 and related resources: Journal articles and book chapters from Oxford Medicine Online

Proquest

• Coronavirus Research Database: openly available materials
• Locate within Proquest A-Z database listing
• NB: Proquest platform may require institutional login

Springer Nature

• SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19
• Journal articles and other resources: including the BMC and Nature Research platforms

The following are subscription databases provided to University of Birmingham staff and students. Check your own institution for availability, or the NHS (Athens login) via Evidence Search. Health Education England (Library and Knowledge Services) have also put together a COVID-19 search bank of related topic searches and strategies.

Medical databases use subject headings. Use the Scope note to check definitions, and click on headings to show the hierarchical subject tree.

Medline (Ovid) - core biomedical database 

• Medical subject heading (MeSH): Covid-19.  Broader term: Coronavirus infections.  Also available: pandemics, human, infection control (broader term: communicable disease control)
• Freetext keywords: Novel coronavirus, Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, nCoV-2, Coronavirus 2019.  See the 'Used for' list in the Scope note for Covid-19

Embase (Ovid) - pharmacology / pharmacy emphasis: essential for drug therapy research

• Subject heading (Emtree): coronavirus disease 2019.  Broader term: coronavirus infection.  Also available: pandemic, communicable disease
• Freetext keywords: Novel coronavirus, Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, 2019-nCoV disease (etc).  See the 'Used for' list on the subject heading break-down for 'coronavirus disease 2019'.

CINAHL - nursing and allied health: for any aspects of nursing and related health care

• Suggested headings and search terms: see Medline

Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (Proquest) - strong on social sciences, public health and social welfare

• Suggested search terms: use above as freetext only (no medical subject headings)

Web of Science

• All Databases, or Core Collection: useful multi-disciplinary database platform with forward citation-searching facility

Scopus

• Elsevier multi-disciplinary database, especially strong on Science areas