ACP Journal Club, a journal published by the American College of Physicians, surveys research published in internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. The journal provides expanded abstracts and critical commentaries of peer-reviewed journal articles. Limited title information is available free online by using the search option, but full records are only available by subscription. 

 Best Health takes information produced for BMJ Clinical Evidence and repackages it for patients. The NHS provides free access to UK-based users. 

BestBETS (Best Evidence Topics) is a free, Internet-based service that provides answers to specific clinical problems about emergency medicine using the “best current evidence”. Each Topic answers a 3-part question, using a structured approach to finding and reviewing the literature. 

Produced by BMJ Publishing and available as an Internet, CD-ROM or paper-based subscription, Clinical Evidence provides overviews of the available evidence for 211 primary health care interventions. Two fully updated issues per year are produced and various topics are updated monthly on the web site. 

CENTRAL is a database of records of controlled trials identified from MEDLINE, EMBASE, other databases, through handsearching journals and from drug companies. The database is prepared by the Cochrane Collaboration and is part of The Cochrane Library, a collection of databases available (by national or personal subscription) online or as a CD-ROM.

CDSR is a collection of full-text systematic reviews (including comments and criticisms) compiled and updated by members of the Cochrane Collaboration. Protocols of upcoming reviews are also included. The database is part of The Cochrane Library, a collection of databases available (by national or personal subscription) online or as a CD-ROM. Search via a simple or an advanced search interface or browse protocol or review titles.

The Cochrane Library is available by subscription. It includes the three databases produced by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination: the NHS Economic Evaluation Database, the HTA Database, and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE). Due to the increasing inclusion of an economic component in systematic reviews, relevant information on economic outcomes may also be found in the Cochrane Library's Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Note that the Cochrane Systematic Reviews are now indexed by the National Library of Medicine for PubMed and MEDLINE. Search via a simple or an advanced search interface, or browse through titles in some of the databases. You can search databases individually or in combination.

DARE is the end result of an extensive filtering process whereby potential systematic reviews are identified through searches of MEDLINE and other health databases and through handsearching of key journals. Candidate reviews are quality assessed by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, and those that meet the selection criteria receive detailed critical abstracts. See http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/darefaq.htm for full details of the DARE process. Search by simple keywords or phrases in specific or across multiple fields. Search terms can also be combined. The database is free or can be purchased as subscription through services such as The Cochrane Library, Dialog and EBSCO.

Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin incorporates DTB and Treatment Notes. It is a collection of key effectiveness summaries of critically appraised research evidence on drugs, medical treatments and management issues. The collection is free in England but other searchers will need to purchase access. Search using a single simple search entry line.

EBM Online / Evidence-Based Medicine journal scans journals specialising in internal medicine and the major specialties for new research. This research is summarised and receives a critical commentary. The web site offers previews of forthcoming articles, and email alerts for new issues. Access to the journal and the web site is via subscription. Search by author or keyword, use an advanced search with more search combinations, or browse by journal issue or by topic.

EBMH Online / Evidence-Based Mental Health journal scans journals focusing on mental health for new research in the areas of treatment, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis/outcome research, quality improvement, continuing education, economic evaluation, and qualitative research. This research is summarised and receives a critical commentary. The web site offers previews of forthcoming articles, and email alerts for new issues. Access to the journal and the web site is via subscription. Search by author or keyword, use an advanced search with more search combinations, or browse by journal issue or by topic.

EBN Online / Evidence-Based Nursing scans a range of journals for advances in nursing: treatment, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis/outcome research, quality improvement, continuing education, economic evaluation, and qualitative research. This research is summarised and receives a critical commentary. The web site offers previews of forthcoming articles, and email alerts for new issues. Access to the journal and the web site is via subscription. Search by author or keyword, use an advanced search with more search combinations, or browse by journal issue or by topic.

Evidence-Based Cardiovascular Medicine journal scans academic journals of relevance to cardiovascular medicine and selects important new research into the causes, clinical course, diagnosis, economics, prevention, quality of care and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Research is summarised and receives a critical commentary. Access to the journal and the web site is via subscription.

Published six times a year, Evidence-based Healthcare and Public Health journal scans academic journals for new research on the financing, organization, and management of healthcare. This research is summarised and receives a critical commentary. Access to the journal and the web site is via subscription.

Evidence-based Obstetrics and Gynecology scans journals reporting the causes, clinical course, diagnosis, economics, prevention, quality of care and treatment of disorders in obstetrics and gynecology are scanned for new research. This research is summarised and receives a critical commentary. A subscription is required for full access.

Evidence-Based On-Call (EB On-Call) provides free evidence-based guides to 38 on-call medical conditions. Focusing on solving clinical problems for the informed reader, each guide is a series of one-page summaries containing brief information on prevalence, causes, clinical features, investigations, therapies and prognosis. Each supporting piece of evidence within a guide has been analysed as a critically appraised topic (CAT). Click on 'The EBOC process' from the home page for details about the levels of evidence and a description of methods used. All topics have expiry dates after which the evidence should be updated. Search using a simple search interface or browse an alphabetical list of topics.

Evidence-Based Pediatrics offers a freely available collection of critically appraised topics (CATs) in many areas of pediatric medicine. Each CAT gives a question, the clinical bottom line, a summary of key evidence, comments and references. The web site indicates that Sackett's Evidence-based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM is used as the basis for the CATs. Other web pages outline how to conduct a journal club and how to prepare the CAT. Each CAT is dated with its creation date and an update date, although most entries labelled ‘new’ are from 2004. Search using a simple search entry line or via an advanced search interface that allows search combination, date searching and relevance ranking. Topics can also be browsed by broad category (e.g., Emergency Pediatrics).

The Health Economic Evaluations Databse (HEED) contains information on studies of cost-effectiveness and other forms of economic evaluation of medicines, other treatments and medical interventions. HEED currently contains 27,000 references, is updated monthly (approximately 300 references are added each month) and is available as an annual subscription service on CD-ROM or via the Internet. More than half the records include a review by a health economist; other records are bibliographic only. Search using the form-filling, compound search interface or try the expert search interface.

HEN is a European information service for public health and health-care decision makers. The site provides access to information and evidence through web sites, databases, national and international organisations and institutes. Browse or search for Evidence reports. Searches can be limited by health topic, category or organisation.

HSTAT provides free access to a range of publications produced by U.S. government-funded agencies: clinical practice guidelines, quick-reference guides for clinicians, consumer health brochures, evidence reports and technology assessments from the former AHCPR, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services. HSTAT also provides links to external databases, including PubMed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Guidelines Database, and the National Guideline Clearinghouse. Further information can be obtained from the HSTAT factsheet. Updates depend upon federal and state agencies that provide their documents to HSTAT. Search using a simple keyword search interface or select a publisher to browse publisher-specific titles.

The HTA database is a free database of ongoing and completed technology assessments from HTA organizations around the world. It is compiled by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination in collaboration with INAHTA. Search by simple keyword or phrase or combine search terms. It is also available as part of subscription-based services such as The Cochrane Library, Dialog and EBSCO.

InfoPOEMS is a collection of searchable evidence-based information relevant to primary care. It includes brief synopses (200-300 words) of articles in the primary care literature and abstracts of systematic reviews from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. It also contains decision support tools, diagnostic calculators, and more than 700 summaries of practice guidelines. The processes used to compile the POEMs are described. This is a subscription product available for PDA (PocketPC, Palm), Windows PC and Internet. Individual, group and institutional pricing are available.

Established in 1990, MeReC produces three publications: MeReC Bulletin, MeReC Extra and MeReC briefing, all with a UK focus. Available as a CD-ROM or as an Internet-based subscription, MeReC provides independent evaluations of drugs and prescribing. 

Mythbusters and Evidence Boost are two series produced by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. Mythbusters aims to provide the research evidence behind selected issues in health services management and policy. Evidence Boost looks at healthcare issues where research indicates a clear preferred course of action in health services management and policy. The issues all have clear publication dates but information about the methods used to produce them is not included.

New Zealand Health Technology Assessment (NZHTA) is a clearing house for health outcomes and health technology assessment. The main bulk of the research done is on health technology assessment and includes work in the area of health economics.

The Web site provides access to the New Zealand Evidence Based Health Care Bulletin, systematic reviews and briefs done by the researchers, links to other resources and organizations and a listserv on health outcomes and health technology assessment. Search the site using the search facility provided, or browse using the navigation links on the left of the page.

NHS EED is free database compiled by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. It identifies economic evaluations from a range of databases and handsearched resources. The economic evaluations are categorised and detailed critical appraisals are made of the quality of the research. Search by simple keywords or phrases in specific or across multiple fields. Search terms can also be combined. It is also available as part of subscription-based services such as The Cochrane Library, Dialog and EBSCO.

The principle aim of the NHS Evidence service is to provide access to a comprehensive evidence base for everyone in health and social care who takes decisions about treatments or the use of resources – including clinicians, public health professionals, commissioners and service managers – thus improving health and patient care.

Ovid Evidence-Based Reviews is a subscription-based resource that links value-added resources such as the ACP Journal Club, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CENTRAL and DARE with MEDLINE and Ovid full-text journals. It allows linkage from a MEDLINE or CENTRAL record to a critical summary and often links to the full-text of the research. The level of critical appraisal of the databases included is described in the individual entries for each resource. Update schedules vary: DARE and CDSR are updated quarterly; MEDLINE is updated monthly.

SUMsearch is a free Internet resource that combines searches across a range of Web sites with contingency searching. French, Spanish and Italian interfaces are also available.

TRIP database Plus offers a searchable index to a wide range of resources, including critical appraisals and systematic reviews. A small number of free searches are allowed but for full functionality, a subscription must be purchased. Details regarding the resources indexed by TRIP (a British company) are listed on the web site and the dates of updating from each resource are given. Search using a simple one-line search interface or browse recently added “latest evidence” by clinical area (e.g.,child health).