LibGuides: Public Health Research Guide: Find Sources

Find Sources

Written by scholars or experts in the field. Scholarly articles, also called academic articles, can be found using databases and cover a wide range of topics and can either be original research or analysis of an issue or topic.

Features of Scholarly Sources

Usually take the form of books or journal articles.
Often peer-reviewed.
Generally, present in-depth analysis or summaries of a topic.

Finding Scholarly Sources: Public Health

PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed provides free access to MEDLINE, a database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. It provides citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems, and preclinical sciences from biomedical literature includes life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text Open Access content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
This database is a great place to get started with your research! It is a multidisciplinary database containing full-text articles from academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers.
Ageline This link opens in a new window
The premier source for the literature of social gerontology and includes aging-related content from the health sciences, psychology, sociology, social work, economics, and public policy fields. Focuses exclusively on the population aged 50+ and issues of aging. Includes information for professionals working in aging-related fields and for consumers. Original abstracts are generated for every citation, from journals, books, book chapters, and reports. This database addresses aging issues from individual, national, and global perspectives.

Public Health overlaps with many areas and other subject-specific databases may need to be consulted depending on the topic studied.

Additional Subject Specific Databases

PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Covers all areas of psychology as well as psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law. Some linked full-text is available.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic This link opens in a new window
Full-text of scholarly journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Coverage of nursing and allied health is particularly strong. Also features the AHFS Consumer Medication Information, which covers 1,300 generic drug patient education sheets with more than 4,700 brand names.
CINAHL This link opens in a new window
CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health) covers a wide range of topics including nursing, biomedicine, health sciences, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health, and 17 allied health disciplines. Offering complete coverage of English-language nursing journals and publications from the National League for Nursing and the American Nurses' Association. In addition, this database offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals and book chapters.
MEDLINE This link opens in a new window
Provides authoritative life science, biomedical, and medical information. Subjects covered include all aspects of clinical medicine (diseases and disorders, diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and equipment), basic biomedical sciences (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, pharmacology, etc.), the health care system (facilities, manpower, services, administration), dentistry, nursing, and clinical psychology., nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Useful for finding information on diagnosis, etiology, therapy, and prevention of diseases and disorders; on research in basic science fields relating to medicine; and on biomedical technology and its applications.

Multidisciplinary Research Databases

Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications and quality web sources. Subject coverage includes: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering; Life and Health Sciences; Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics; Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. It is a comprehensive resource to support research in the scientific, technical, medical areas.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Searching Google Scholar using this link allows current UIS students, faculty, and staff to access full text of subscription required sources as well as information freely available online.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Web of Science Core Collection is our premier resource on the platform and the world's most trusted citation indexes for scientific and scholarly research containing Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Web of Science indexes core journal articles, conference proceedings, data sets, and other resources in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.

Statistical Databases

Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. Includes 1400+ individually indexed tables (with attached spreadsheets) that are searchable and browsable.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Includes statistics about the United States from the colonial times up to the start of the 21st century. It provides U.S. population, economic, employment, governance and international relations data with the ability to create and save customized data sets.

Note: Off-campus users may need to connect via campus VPN

Illinois and US Government Sources

HealthData.gov
Overall National/State/County comparison data
Illinois Department of Public Health
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) collects and evaluates thousands of health statistics. From the list of links on the left side of the screen, click on Health Statistics.
National Center for Health Statistics
NCHS's FastStats provides quick access to statistics on topics of public health. Links are provided to publications that include the statistics presented, to sources of more data, and to related web pages.
Data.gov
U.S. Government’s open data providing data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
State Data Center Program
A cooperative program between the states and the Census Bureau the State Data Center (SDC) and Business and Industry Data Center (BIDC) Program are designed to meet the needs of local populations and business communities. The SDC lead organization is appointed by the Governor of the state, commonwealth, Puerto Rico, insular areas or the Mayor of the District of Columbia.
Data and Statistics About the U.S.
Central clearinghouse for data about the U.S., such as demographic and economic data, population, and maps. Links to Census, Maps, and data from various agencies with descriptions.

International and Other Statistical Sources

NationMaster
Provides comparative data across countries and states.
WHO (World Health Organization) Data collections
The World Health Organization manages and maintains a wide range of data collections related to global health and well-being as mandated by our Member States. Explore our key health data products and resources from across the organization.

Tests and Instruments

PsycTESTS This link opens in a new window
PsycTESTS is a research database that provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information about the test and its development. Records also discuss reliability and validity of the tool. Some records include full-text of the test.
ICPSR: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window
ICPSR is the world's largest archive of digital social science data. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community. UIS is an institutional member of the ICPSR.

Health Services and Sciences Research Resources (HSRR)
The HSRR database was designed for health care researchers and health sciences librarians seeking data resources used in health services research, the behavioral and social sciences and public health. Users may examine and compare characteristics of health-related research tools and link to additional research resources.

Government Agencies/Information

MedlinePlus
Provides access to extensive information about specific diseases and conditions. It also has links to drug and supplement information, medical dictionaries, lists of hospitals and physicians, health information in Spanish and other languages, and clinical trials. Sponsored by the National Library of Medicine.
CDC - Center for Disease Control
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency tasked with environmental protection matters. The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education with the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws.
U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Link to NLM databases (MedlinePlus, PubMed, TOXLINE, Haz-Map, etc.), electronic research resources (Environmental Health and Toxicology, Health Services Research and Public Health, etc.) and guides (Tox Town).
Healthfinder
Provides links to health information on carefully selected Web sites from over 1,700 organizations. Developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Other Resources

Merck Manuals Online Medical Library
Electronic versions of five medical manuals: The Merck Manual of Medical Information (home ed.), The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, The Merck Manual of Geriatrics, The Merck Veterinary Manual, and The Merck Index.
American Public Health Association
APHA champions the health of all people and all communities. Designed to help the public health profession providing information on public health issues and policies backed by science.
The National Academies - Health and Medicine Division
Part of the National Academies, a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, founded to provide national advice on issues related to health, medicine, and biomedical science.
Mayo Clinic
Provides access to information about specific diseases and conditions, as well as prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

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More Databases

A-Z Databases
Complete list of available databases.