TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance of online biomedical databases in rheumatology
AU - Ramos-Remus, C.
AU - Suarez-Almazor, M.
AU - Dorgan, M.
AU - Gomez-Vargas, A.
AU - Russell, A. S.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2004 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1994
Y1 - 1994
N2 - Objective: To compare the performance of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and BIOSIS in selected rheumatology topics. Methods: Online literature searches were conducted with regard to the epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), as well as for 3 specific questions representing clinical, clinical/laboratory, and therapeutic topics in rheumatology. Total number of citations retrieved, type and language of publication, percentage of contribution from rheumatology journals, and degree of overlap among the databases were recorded. Publications retrieved for the 3 specific questions were also-graded for relevance. Results: For 1991, each online biomedical database (OBD) retrieved more than 1,100 citations for RA, over 600 for SLE, and over 110 for AS. For the epidemiology subtopic, fewer than 25 % of the citations were retrieved by more than one of the databases. About 314 of the citations obtained for the specific search questions were retrieved by a single database. No major differences were observed among databases in relation to number of relevance of citations retrieved. Over 60% of the papers assessed had low relevance in relation to the topic of the search. Efficiency was estimated as the percentage of all relevant citations retrieved by each OBD. Results varied according to the topic, but in most cases each database retrieved at least 50% of the relevant citations;:about 45 % of the citations retrieved for the; 3 search questions were published in nonrheumatology journals. Conclusion: No database was superior in all respects. The majority of the citations were retrieved by a single database. A high percentage of the articles retrieved were not relevant, implying low specificity. If a comprehensive online search in rheumatology is required, 2 or more databases should be utilized.
AB - Objective: To compare the performance of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and BIOSIS in selected rheumatology topics. Methods: Online literature searches were conducted with regard to the epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), as well as for 3 specific questions representing clinical, clinical/laboratory, and therapeutic topics in rheumatology. Total number of citations retrieved, type and language of publication, percentage of contribution from rheumatology journals, and degree of overlap among the databases were recorded. Publications retrieved for the 3 specific questions were also-graded for relevance. Results: For 1991, each online biomedical database (OBD) retrieved more than 1,100 citations for RA, over 600 for SLE, and over 110 for AS. For the epidemiology subtopic, fewer than 25 % of the citations were retrieved by more than one of the databases. About 314 of the citations obtained for the specific search questions were retrieved by a single database. No major differences were observed among databases in relation to number of relevance of citations retrieved. Over 60% of the papers assessed had low relevance in relation to the topic of the search. Efficiency was estimated as the percentage of all relevant citations retrieved by each OBD. Results varied according to the topic, but in most cases each database retrieved at least 50% of the relevant citations;:about 45 % of the citations retrieved for the; 3 search questions were published in nonrheumatology journals. Conclusion: No database was superior in all respects. The majority of the citations were retrieved by a single database. A high percentage of the articles retrieved were not relevant, implying low specificity. If a comprehensive online search in rheumatology is required, 2 or more databases should be utilized.
KW - Biosis
KW - Databases
KW - Embase
KW - Medline
KW - Online search
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M3 - Article
C2 - 7837159
AN - SCOPUS:0028125222
SN - 0315-162X
VL - 21
SP - 1912
EP - 1921
JO - Journal of Rheumatology
JF - Journal of Rheumatology
IS - 10
ER -