How to literature search for articles on a subject (Databases)
How to search for evidence and best practice on a topic (Evidence Summaries)
How to find full text of a specific article
How to find print and electronic books (SWIMS Catalogue)
Databases: contain bibliographic records about articles
Whilst you won't have full text access to all the articles referenced, where we have a subscription there will be a link to the article and where we don't there will be an article request option.
If you need an search assistance or 1-to-1 training on the use of resources please contact the Discovery Library.
You can also undertake NHS Learning Hub Literature Searching elearning modules - you will need an NHS OpenAthens account to access.
Search the NHS England subscribed healthcare databases below :
CINAHL (via Ebsco)- nursing and allied health~
Embase (via Ovid) - biomedical and pharmaceutical literature
Emcare (via Ovid) - nursing and allied health
HMIC (via Ovid) - healthcare management
Medline (via EBSCO) - biomedical, life sciences, allied health and pre-clinical sciences literature
Medline (via Ovid) - biomedical, life sciences, allied health and pre-clinical sciences literature
Social Policy and Practice (via Ovid) - health and social care
To access the NHS subscribed databases you will need an NHS Athens account.
Collection of databases incl:
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)
Cochrane Clinical Answers
that can be searched simultaneously and contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making.
Search PubMed. A free resource which contains more than 33 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.
Search via your organisation:
The above link includes a local organisation logo on the right-hand side of each record. Clicking the logo will check article availability or offer a request form.
To access the content linked you will need an NHS Athens account.
Search NHS Library and Knowledge Hub (Help)
Whilst it is advisable to search the databases above for more detailed and systematic searches, the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub can be used for more simple searches to find a couple of papers on a simple topic.
To access content on the Library and Knowledge Hub you will need an NHS Athens account.
A range of evidence-based and other resources available to help inform patient care or support your study including:
View BMJ Help and training resources
Evidence-based research, guidelines and expert opinion offering step-by-step guidance on diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention.
On 1st access you’ll be asked to create a personal account to download the free App - you will need a local NHS OpenAthens account.
Clinical insight search tool which also gives access to over 1100 electronic books and 500 journals and other fulltext resources
Note you will need a local NHS OpenAthens account
Clinical Knowledge Summaries (provided by NICE)
Summaries of the current evidence base & practical guidance on best practice for >300 primary care presentations and regular updates to all topics
Clinical search tool designed to allow health professionals to rapidly identify the highest quality clinical evidence for clinical practice.
‘an evidence-based clinical decision support resource authored by physicians to help healthcare practitioners make the best decisions at the point of care’.
Note you will need a UHP OpenAthens account. UHP staff or students register for a OpenAthens account.
(available to University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust only).
To access articles you will need a NHS OpenAthens account.
To search for availability of articles use the following options:
For each option you should either be able to
Access the fulltext of the article where we have a subscription to journal or
Complete a form to request a copy of an article not held
Search for the Article title via the Knowledge and Library Hub
If you have the article title please copy and paste into the main search box of the hub.
If the title is a short title using common healthcare terms, then you might want to add the Author name and/or Journal title to the search to specify your chosen article.
Find further help on the Knowledge and Library Hub
Search for the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PubMed ID (PMID) via LibKey
A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to permanently identify an article or document and link to it on the web.
It is usually in the format: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05043-y
The bit in italics which starts all DOIs can be ignored - please copy and paste the rest of your specific into the search box.
A PubMed identifier (PMID) is a unique value assigned to each PubMed record usually 8 digits long.
On the LibKey site, under 'Choose your organisation', type in one of the following and select option:
Plymouth: for University Hospitals Plymouth
Devon: for Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon - this includes Livewell Southwest and Plymouth GP staff/students
South Western: for SWASFT
Search for the journal title using BrowZine
The search only includes journals for which organisation has a subscription.
If a journal is embargoed the embargoed article will still be listed but when you click to access content you will receive a article request form rather than the fulltext.
On the BrowZine site, under 'Choose Library', type in one of the following and select option:
Plymouth: for University Hospitals Plymouth
Devon: for Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon - this includes Livewell Southwest and Plymouth GP staff/students
South Western: for SWASFT
Browser extension to check all scholarly pages for local access via Nomad
After adding the extension, under 'Select Organization', type in one of the following and select option:
Plymouth: for University Hospitals Plymouth
Devon: for Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon - this includes Livewell Southwest and Plymouth GP staff/students
South Western: for SWASFT
On University Hospitals Plymouth and Livewell SW networked machines IT have already made Nomad automatically available via Microsoft Edge. You will need to manually download to any other browsers you use on NHS Personal Device
This is a regional NHS catalogue, so in location select ‘Plymouth, Derriford Hospital, PLY’ to limit your search to print books held at Discovery Library, Derriford. The shelfmark will correspond with shelf in library collection.
If you are unable to visit the library in person please email library.mailbox@nhs.net to request postal delivery of required book(s)
You can also log in and renew your books (if you have not already made a pin number for your library account follow the instructions on screen).
If we don’t have the book you require you can consider making a book request. This service is for registered borrowers, undertaking NHS work. Register for a library account
Select your location based on your organisation:
Plymouth, Derriford Hospital, PLY (for UHP, Livewell and Devon GP and ICB staff)
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust SWASFT
You will need an NHS OpenAthens login to access ebooks.
