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Directory of Databases
Please read the Rosenthal Center Disclaimer
The literature on clinical and scientific research into alternative medicine treatments is widely scattered, as is background information on alternative medicine systems and approaches. The following is a compilation of established research resources in the USA, Europe and Asia, designed to facilitate research by both professionals and the public. This may be clinical, biomedical, review, meta-analytical or survey research. The listing is hyperlinked to existing Web sites where available, and to brief information on the resource, such as: how to obtain further details; type of literature covered; whether fee-based access or free; size of the holding; and mode of access.
The major bibliographic databases that offer comprehensive coverage of biomedical research literature also contain a significant number of citations on alternative and complementary medicine information. These databases index a relatively small but growing number of alternative medicine journals but generally have a policy of indexing the entire contents of the predominantly peer-review journals they include. So, as increasing numbers of articles on alternative medicine are published in mainstream journals, they are being indexed. There is partial overlap in the alternative medicine subsets of these databases.
| Database | Fee or Free | Access Information |
| PubMed PubMed has become the predominant means of accessing MEDLINE, the world's largest single biomedical database, produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), USA. Approximately 5,000 journals in 37 languages are indexed and the over 15 million references go back to 1950. Indexing keywords are known as MeSH terms. |
Free | Public web access |
| Embase Produced by Elsevier Science BV, The Netherlands, Embase has extensive coverage of pharmacological as well as biomedical research. Embase.com allows online searching of the Emabase database along with selected MEDLINE records. |
Fee | Subscription based online access |
| ISI Web of Science - now Thomson Scientific Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index These two databases are now part of Thomson Scientific providing access to current and retrospective bibliographic information, author abstracts, and cited references from the world's leading scholarly science, social science, and technical journals worldwide. |
Fee | Subscription based online access |
| Database | Fee or Free | Access Information |
| AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine Database) Produced by the British Library Health Care Info. Service, this database contains primarily European references, much of which is not found in MEDLINE or EMBASE. |
Fee | CD, Online library services, or individual subscription. Search service available |
| CAM on PubMed NCCAM and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) partnered to create a Complementary and Alternative Medicine subset of NLM's PubMed, providing access to relevant citations from the MEDLINE database and additional life science journals. To access, go to PubMed and click on the "Limit" function. From the Subsets pull down menu, select "Complementary Medicine" and then search from within this subset. |
Free | Public web access |
| Cochrane Collaboration, Complementary Field This international alliance of researchers maintains and updates a registry of randomized controlled trials. The Complementary Medicine Field is based at the University of Maryland. See the Abstracts of systematic reviews related to complementary and alternative medicine. |
Free | Abstracts and new protocols available as pdf file on the CMP website |
| CAMPAIN Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Pain Database compiled from relectronic and hand searches of scientific literature sources world-wide, maintained by the University of Maryland, Center for Integrative Medicine. | Free | Public web access |
| DATADIWAN The German, Patienteninformation fur Naturheilkunde, (Patient information for natural therapies) has a searchable database on line, much of it in English, providing information on holistic medicine and a network linking research institutions and organizations worldwide. There are over 6,000 bibliographic entries and 6,000 addresses. |
Free | Publicly available on DATADIWAN website |
The following databases also contain a considerable number of references on alternative and complementary medicine:
| Database | Fee or Free | Access Information |
| AGRICOLA AGRICultural OnLine Access is a bibliographic database created by the National Agriculatural Library, USA, and contains citations on medicinal plants. |
Free | Public web access |
| CABI - CAB ABSTRACTS Bibliographic database from UK, covers agriculture, forestry, aspects of human health, nutrition, and management and conservation of natural resources. |
Fee | Print and electronic access |
| CINAHL Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health covers primarily nursing journals and includes CAM citations. |
Fee | Access through Ovid library service |
| NAPRALERT Relational database, from University of Illinois, of worldwide literature on natural products: ethnomedical, pharmacological/biochemical, clinical studies. Similar information is available for secondary metabolites. |
Fee | Web-based interface provides access to specific reports, generated from queries. Payment is by credit card at time of search, based on number of citations. |
| NLM Databases Provides access to many useful databases, including ToxNet and ClinicalTrials.gov. Bioethics, Cancer Information, and HIV/AIDS can be accessed from PubMed. To access, go to PubMed and click on the "Limit" function. From the Subsets pull down menu, select the subset. |
Free | Public web access |
| PsycINFO Psychological abstracts from 1800s to present includes mind-body and other CAM information. |
Fee | Online search service for individuals or institutions |
| Database | Fee or Free | Access Information |
| African Health Anthology A bibliographic reference resource that incorporates several Indigenous African medicine Databases |
Fee | CD-Rom format |
| American Indian Ethnobotany Database Dr. Moerman's database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, derived from plants is based at the University of Michigan |
Free | Web search interface |
| China TCM Patent Database Established by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of People's Republic of China, the English language section containsa subset of formulas from 1985 to present. |
Free | Web search interface |
| FRLHT - Bio-Informatics on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Knowledge Based in India, the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions has compiled a comprehensive database of 7,500 botanical names. The primary purpose of FRLHT is to preserve and revitalise local knowledge of plants and their uses. |
Fee | No public access. Searches may be requested |
| JICST-EPlus Comprehensive bibliographic database with English citations and abstracts, covering Japanese literature on science, technology, and medicine from 1985 |
Fee | Subscription access information on Web site |
| TCM Database System A series of databases of traditional Chinese medicine, set up by the Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, comprises 10 Chinese databases and 2 English, including TCMLARS (Traditional Chinese Medlical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) and TCDBASE (Traditional Chinese Drug Database). Uses a common search strategy. |
Fee | Web or CD |
| TEK*PAD Traditional Ecological Knowledge*Prior Arts Database is an index and search engine of existing Internet-based, public domain documentation concerning indigenous knowledge and plant species uses, maintained by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
Free | Web search interface |
| TradiMed Built by the Natural Product Research Institute at Seoul National University, Korea, from Chinese and Korean medical classics,TradiMed represents a combination of traditional medicine knowledge and modern science Medicine, Seoul. |
Fee | Individual subscription access via Web |
| Database | Fee or Free | Access Information |
| ACUBASE An acupuncture and TCM practice management tool and a modifiable reference library. |
Fee | CD format for PC and Mac |
| Acubriefs Searchable database with over 16,000 citations, many with online links to citation or text, partly sponsored by the Medical Acupuncture Research Foundation |
Free | Web search interface |
| EthnobotDb EthnobotDb is one of Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases on the US Agricultural Research Database covering ethnobotanical uses for plants. |
Free | Web search interface |
| HerbMed An evidence-based herbal database providing hyperlinked access to the scientific research on herbs, categorized and summarized, with dynamic updating. A project of the Alternative Medicine Foundation. A professional version, HerbMedPro, is available for licensing and subscription. See public website for details on how to apply. |
Free | Browsable and searchable on the web |
| HOM-INFORM This database contains over 25,000 articles and book references on homeopathy, compiled by the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital, UK, library service, Hom-Inform, is an individualised search, query and document supply service available to all. |
Free and fee | Free web searching and fee based services |
| IBIDS The database, International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements, from the Office of Dietary Supplements, NIH, covers vitamins, minerals, and herbs. |
Free | Searchable on the web |
| MANTIS The database, updated monthly, mainly covers chiropractic literature, but includes citations on osteopathy homeopathy, and manual medicine. Records are from over 1,000 journals from 1900 to present. |
Fee | Individual subscription access via Web. |
| Qi Gong Database 2050 citations from varied sources on clinical and experimental research on Qigong. |
Fee | CD format for PC and Mac |
| Treuherz Collection The private homeopathy reference library of Francis Treuherz holds 6,000 volumes. Inquiries can be made through the Society of Homeopaths. |
Fee | CD format for PC and Mac |
| Database | Fee or Free | Access Information |
| AIDSinfo AIDSinfo is a central resource for federally and privately funded clinical trials for AIDS patients and others infected with HIV. |
Free | Browsable and searchable on the web |
| Bandolier Plain English summaries, from UK group, of evidence-based medicine published research presented as searchable documents to provide advice about particular treatments or diseases for healthcare professionals and consumers. |
Free | Web search interface and downloadable documents |
| CenterWatch A searchable listing of over 4,100 industry and government-sponsored ongoing clinical trials categorized by therapeutic area and geographic region; useful patient resource |
Free | Browsable and searchable on the web |
| ClinicalTrials.gov Provides regularly updated information about federally and privately supported clinical research using human volunteers. |
Free | Browsable and searchable on the web |
| Cochrane Library The Cochrane Library consists of a collection of evidence-based medicine databases, including The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews - updated quarterly. Abstracts are freely publicly search and browsable. |
Fee | Available as Web subscription or CD |
| CRISP This searchable database of NIH funded research and intramural research projects contains mainly conventional biomedicine, but contains a growing proportion of alternative medicine research pro jects and clinical trials. |
Free | Web search interface |
| iEdison Interagency resource to helps government grantees and contractors comply with a federal law, the Bayh-Dole Act, that requires that government funded inventions be reported to the federal agency who made the award. |
Free | Web search interface |
| NCCAM Sponsored Research This listing by year is not in database format but provides an overview of all extramural research sponsored by the National Center for Complementary Medicine |
Free | Browsable listing |
| USPTO The US Patent and Trademark Office is an important and relatively unexplored source of information and, often unpublished, research data relevant to studies in alternative and complementary medicine. |
Free | Web search interface |
The information for this listing was researched and updated by Jackie Wootton, M.Ed, Informatics Project Director 1995 to 2007.
The original categorized Directory of Databases was developed in collaboration with a group who first met in Vienna, Austria in June 1994 at the Wiener Internationale Akademie fur Ganzheitsmedizin (The Vienna International Academy for Integrated Medicine), and was co-funded by the Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. This early pioneering project has inspired many similar compilations, both electronic and paper publications.
Page updated June, 2007
