BIOSIS Evolutions
5
Table 1. Comparison of BIOSIS Previews, EMBASE and MEDLINE *
Parameter
BIOSIS Previews
EMBASE
Medline
P r i m a ry Emphasis
All life science areas, including:
D rug Research & Pharm a c o l o g y
Biomedicine, including:
A g r i c u l t u re
Human Medicine
Clinical Medicine
B i o c h e m i s t ry
Basic Biological Researc h
Experimental Medicine
B i o m e d i c i n e
Health Policy and Management
N u r s i n g
B i o t e c h n o l o g y
Public, Occupational, and Environmental Health
D e n t i s t ry
B o t a n y
Substance Dependence and Abuse
Public Health
E c o l o g y
P s y c h i a t ry
G e n e t i c s
E n v i ronmental Sciences
F o rensic Science
To x i c o l o g y
G e n e t i c s
Biomedical Engineering and Instru m e n t a t i o n
P h a rm a c o l o g y
M i c ro b i o l o g y
Allied Health Sciences
P h a rmacology
Documents Covered
Full-length re s e a rch art i c l e s
Full-length re s e a rch art i c l e s
Full-length re s e a rch art i c l e s
Review art i c l e s
Review art i c l e s
Review art i c l e s
Meeting pro c e e d i n g s
Letters and editorials**
Clinical trials
U.S. Patents
Letters and editorials**
Letters and editorials**
Books and book chapters
S o f t w a re reviews
Years Covered
1 9 6 9 - p resent
1 9 7 4 - p resent
1 9 6 6 - p resent
Number of Serials Covere d
5,211
3,773
3 , 9 5 7
Total Number of Record s
Over 12 million
Over 7 million
Over 10 million
A p p roximately 8.8 million are in biomedicine
R e c o rds Added Annually
A p p roximately 559,000
A p p roximately 415,000
A p p roximately 400,000
Number of Countries Represented
90 countries
70 countries
70 countries
C u rrency
45 days
15 days
30% in 30 days
60% in 60 days
Value-Added Indexing
Relational Indexing
H i e r a rchical tre e
H i e r a rchical medical tree
C o n t rolled and natural-language keyword s
D rug indexing
Topical Subheadings
B road subject codes
Trade names
Check Tags
B road animal group codes
M a n u f a c t u rer names
Super taxonomic groups
Routes of drug administration
Clinical Trials
* Statistics based on 1998-9 coverage
** Letters and editorials are indexed when of significance.
a variety of biomedical topics were compared. The
searches were conducted on DIALOG, using the
OneSearch option to determine the total number of
records for a one-year timespan. Table 2 provides the
results.
The comparisons clearly demonstrate that the three
databases must be searched for truly complete
literature retrieval. For most searches, there was at
least 30% unique records retrieved.
Conclusion
BIOSIS Previews
is complementary to Medline and
EMBASE for medical and biomedical literature
searches. BIOSIS Previews is an invaluable adjunct
to any life science database for all life science
researchers, including those in medicine.
Table 2. Comparison of specific search results
Subject Coverage
Subject area
BIOSIS Previews
EMBASE
M e d l i n e
Occupational Health
892
1,570
362
Pediatrics
5,124
541
10,368
D e n t i s t ry
662
90
3,009
Ve t e r i n a ry Medicine
2,274
83
171
Public Health
3,382
10,225
69,069
Medical Genetics
1,600
106
43,114
Biomedical Engineering
222
125
1 3 6
P h a rmacognosy
1,362
7
3
Clinical Immunology
6,403
16,272
269
C a rdiovascular Medicine
68
87
185
A l t e rnative Medicine
15
233
1,196
P s y c h i a t ry
3,602
1,432
10,006
