Has Embase replaced MEDLINE since coverage expansion?

Authors

  • Michael Thomas Lam Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Medical Science Program, Western University, London, ON
  • Christina De Longhi Independent Contributor, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON
  • Joseph Turnbull Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Department of Economics, Business, and Mathematics, King’s University College at Western University, London, ON
  • Helen Rose Lam Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Social Work Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto, ON
  • Reena Besa Independent Contributor, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2018.281

Keywords:

Bibliographic Databases, Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, Database Usage, Research, Library Research, Research Method, Academic Medicine

Abstract

Objectives: The research tested the authors’ hypothesis that more researchers from the academic medicine community in the United States and Canada with institutional access to Embase had started using Embase to replace MEDLINE since Embase was expanded in 2010 to cover all MEDLINE records.

Methods: We contacted libraries of 140 and 17 medical schools in the United States and Canada, respectively, to confirm their subscriptions to Embase 5 years before and 5 years after 2010. We searched the names of institutions with confirmed Embase access in Ovid MEDLINE and Embase to retrieve works authored by affiliates of those institutions. We then examined 100 randomly selected records from each of the 5 years before and 5 years after the Embase coverage expansion in 2010. We hypothesized that studies that used Embase but not MEDLINE would increase due to the Embase coverage expansion.

Results: The number of studies that used Embase but not MEDLINE did not change between the pre-2010 and post-2010 periods.

Conclusion: Our hypothesis was refuted. Studies that used Embase but not MEDLINE did not increase post-2010. Our results suggest the academic medicine community in the United States and Canada that had access did not use Embase to replace MEDLINE, despite the Embase coverage expansion.

Author Biographies

Michael Thomas Lam, Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Medical Science Program, Western University, London, ON

Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Medical Science Program, Western University

Joseph Turnbull, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Department of Economics, Business, and Mathematics, King’s University College at Western University, London, ON

Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Department of Economics, Business, and Mathematics, King's University College at Western

Helen Rose Lam, Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Social Work Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto, ON

Undergraduate student, Bachelor of Social Work Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University

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Published

2018-04-05

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Section

Original Investigation