Medicine: Home
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Books
Books for medicine can be found in both the Main Library and the JF Allen Library. We've tried to split core reading texts between both sites but most other books will be at the Main Library.
The Knowledge Network also has many ebooks.
If you find that we need more copies of books please email me or morebooks and I'll endeavour to get more copies as soon as possible.
Not in the Library?
Can't find what you are looking for in the Library? There are a number of options available:
- Inter Library LoansIf we don't have a book or journal in stock we can get it for you.
- MorebooksAre there not enough copies of a book in stock? Would you like the Library to buy a book for your dissertation? Email morebooks@st-andrews.ac.uk and we will consider your suggestion.
- SCONUL Accessallows you to use a limited number of services at University Libraries in the UK. Complete the online form from http://www.sconul.ac.uk/sconul-access.
Get lean library for easier access to eresources
Ever been stuck behind a paywall for a journal article, newspaper article, or ebook?
Lean Library is a browser add-on that makes it easier to get access to these resources. Land on a webpage where you can't access a resource and Lean Library can give you a link directing you to the full-text version available through the Library subscription, or an open-access version. It saves you time looking for a login button or having to go back to Library Search to look up a title.
You can install the Lean Library browser add-on in most browser download.leanlibrary.com/
More information about Lean Library can be found in our guide libguides.st-andrews.ac.uk/lean
Useful Search & Reference Resources
- CREDO Reference This link opens in a new windowis a collection of serveral hundred major reference books including dictionaries, encyclopaedias and thesauri including a number of scientific and language resources.
Useful Links
New Books in the Library
Finding journals
There are three main ways of getting hold of a journal article.
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Search the NHS Knowledge network - best for clinical journals. (NHS Athens authentication)
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Search the University of St Andrews (St Andrews authentication - your email login and password.)
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If those two steps fail, then you will have to apply for an interlibrary loan.
Please note that there isn't usually any other way of getting hold of an article. You can try Googling it, but you will nearly always find that it will at some point ask for a password. Often you will see 'The University of St Andrews' at the top of a page or an ATHENS login link but this DOES NOT mean that you will have access, the only way to check is to consult the catalogues of the University or NHS as described in steps 1 or 2 above.
Key Databases for Medicine
NHS Knowledge Network Databases (requires an NHS Athens account.)
- Ovid Medline"Ovid MEDLINE® covers the international literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care. Information is indexed from approximately 5,400 journals published world-wide."
Contains largely the same articles as PubMed but the search interface is more sophisticated. (Requires NHS Athens login.) - OVID Embase"3,500 international journals in the following fields: drug research, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, toxicology, clinical and experimental human medicine, health policy and management, public health, occupational health, environmental health, drug dependence and abuse, psychiatry, forensic medicine, and biomedical engineering/instrumentation." (Requires NHS Athens login.)
- Cochrane Library"The Cochrane Library is a collection of six databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, and a seventh database that provides information about groups in The Cochrane Collaboration." (No login required in the UK.)
- CINAHLCINAHL - Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature indexes of over 2500 nursing journals, standards of practice and research in the fields of Nursing and Allied Health.
- PsycInfoPsycInfo indexed a wide range of journals, conference papers and books in the field of Psychology and Neuroscience, from 1800 to present.
- Full list of NHS Knowledge Network DatabasesIf your topic is in a specialist area it is sometimes worth checking to see if there is an appropriate database. (Requires NHS Athens login)
University Resources (use normal University login and password).
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary citation database with coverage of over 10,000 high-impact journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Useful for finding out the most important papers in a particular field. (Requires University login off campus - choose UK Federation from the drop down menu and then St Andrews.)
- Scopus This link opens in a new windowScopus is a very large, easy to use, interdisciplinary science database.
- Library search This link opens in a new windowA single access point to many of the Library's e-resources - databases, e-journals, e-books and print books. Allows you to search them simultaneously and limit to those available electronically.
- ERIC This link opens in a new windowproduced by the US Department of Education. Provides access to education-related articles, conferences, meetings, government documents, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, books and monographs. 1966 to date
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowIndexes over 2,000 journals including psychological literature from the 1800s to present.
Other Resources
- Africa Journals Onlinea site that allows searching of a selection of African-published scholarly journals
- Global Index MedicusThe Global Index Medicus (GIM) provides worldwide access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low-middle income countries. The main objective is to increase the visibility and usability of this important set of resources. The material is collated and aggregated by WHO Regional Office Libraries on a central search platform allowing retrieval of bibliographical and full text information.
- LILACSScientific health information from Latin America and the Caribbean countries
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowFree database consisting of references to multidisciplinary articles, theses, books and abstracts. See https://libanswers.st-andrews.ac.uk/faq/93370 for information on how to set up your preferences to link to library journal holdings.
Subject Guide
Book an appointment
Book time with Vicki Cormie - please use this link to arrange an online meeting with me.
About this guide
The information in this guide is aimed at undergraduate students in the Faculty of Medicine who should all be members of the NHS Knowledge Network. Students from other schools do not have access to this resource but will be able to access the University resources mentioned on this page.
Referencing styles
Make sure you are using the right Style in Word Online to ensure your references are formatted correctly.
If you want to use the Harvard St Andrews or Vancouver St Andrews styles you can download them using the link below, to your own PC. Once you've downloaded it you will need to save it in the Styles folder within EndNote on your computer. To do this copy the file that you have downloaded and then on
PC: open File Explorer and paste C:\Program Files (x86)\EndNote 20\Styles into the search bar and save it there.
Mac: open Finder, open Applications, open Endnote by clicking once, click open the Styles folder and then paste it in there.
The School of Medicine uses Harvard or Vancouver referencing styles. You can find information about both these styles using the links below: