Secondary Literature1

Definition Secondary literature refers to references that either index or abstract the primary literature with the goal of directing the user to the primary literature.

Secondary Information Resources Secondary Resources Indexing services bibliographic citation information (e.g., title, author, …etc.) Abstracting Services a brief description (or abstract) of the information provided by the article or resource cited

An Indexing System: Provides only bibliographic information that is indexed by topic. An Abstracting Service: Provides a brief description (abstract) of information contained in a specific citation.

Indexing & abstracting provide access to primary literature each of which covers: – different biomedical journals – meeting abstracts – newsletters – textbooks – other publications therefore, use of more than one of these resources often allows for more thorough information retrieval.

CD-ROM format (IDIS) Internet, such as Grateful Med or PubMed from the National Library of Medicine ( >). Print Format (paper)

Secondary Sources Print (Paper) Less Costly. Require more time. Can be searched by only one user at a time. Electronic More frequent updating of listings and information. Require knowledge of search strategy. Different systems use different indexing. Costly except for PubMed.

How to search in secondary resource ? Select your database. Identify your keywords. Use Boolean operators. Using limits.

Examples of secondary resources MEDLINE ®\ PUBMED Iowa drug information system (IDIS) International pharmaceutical abstracts (IPA) EMBASE Reactions weekly Google scholar

Identify your keywords Disease state Diabetes, hypertension and depression. Population Pediatrics, adults OR elderly. Drugs Metformin, Aspririn.

Use Boolean operators AND will combine two terms, returning only citations containing both of those concepts or terms. OR will include any citation where either term is used. NOT eliminates any references having the term that follows that operator.

Using limits Language of publication. Year of publication. Type of article (e.g., human study, review, and case report). Type of journal where publication is found.

Secondary Literature13 Achieve rapid access to literature information (any accumulated data..) Literature sources are organized by subject headings(… search the system and recover data pertaining directly to the information needed) Key indexing terms … consists of the following: – Primary indexing terms – Descriptive modifying terms – Access numbers Indexing:

Secondary Literature14 Constitute the appropriate key term under which the information is filled in the relevant literature sources. It provides the searcher with an efficient method to identify & locate information or answers pertaining directly to the type of information needed. Primary indexing terms

Secondary Literature15 ……..primary indexing term being as specific as possible and use the generic name of the drug where feasible. Depending on the origin in addition to the generic name of drug or other key indexing terms may be used, the most common terms frequently used are listed as follows: Primary indexing terms(cont.)

Secondary Literature16 Trade name, this used only, if the drug under which the information required to be filled is a combination product ( e.g. MAALOX) The name of therapeutic or chemical class of drugs, if the information concerning a class of drugs rather than a single drug (e.g. Corticosteroids and Anti-inflammatory agents). The name of specific disease when the question or the information pertains to a drug related aspects of disease states (e.g. Leukemia and Hypertension). Primary indexing terms

Secondary Literature17 In case that the information is about investigational drugs, letters and/or numbers can be used as primary index, e.g. A Information related to specific subject rather than a specific drug, a name of noun can be used as a primary index. For example, information about insulin pump is indexed under pump, insulin. Primary indexing terms(cont.)

Secondary Literature18 In certain situations, information is difficult or not suitable for indexing under one of the previously mentioned primary indexing terms. In order to provide uniformity in assigning primary indexing terms, a more specific term can be used in indexing of these information as the following examples: Primary indexing terms

Secondary Literature19 – Availability of particular drug. – General information concerning drug abuse. – Drug packaging information, this is usually indexed under drug container and closures name in accordance to terms used by Index Medicos. – Legal matters dealing with drugs (e.g. regulation). Primary indexing terms

Secondary Literature20 Is a term used to modify or describe the primary indexing term. It should be specific & concise as possible to be accessible one. It is usually consists of one or two word phrases describing briefly the nature of the requested information. It is often includes terms such as: – Dose: Mefinamic acid- dosage, normal adults -- Descriptive modifying terms – Pharmacokinetics: Bacoarnpicillin - Drug concentration level, therapeutics, – Interaction: Becampicillin - Erythromycin, interaction --- Erythromycin - Bacompicillin, interaction Descriptive modifying term

Secondary Literature21 Used to locate the information or request pertaining to the modifying term. Example: – A question was received in a drug information center regarding the adult dose of Ibuprofen to be used by a patient with renal failure. – Such question will be indexed as follows: – Ibuprofen- Renal Failure, dosage (Adult) ….464 Access number – Primary indexing term Hyphen Descriptive modifying indexing term Access number

Secondary Literature22 Abstracts are summaries of the content of information appearing in published articles, constructed to be a major device for information storage, or retrieval system. Main Types of Abstracts: 1. Indicative abstracts (Non-evaluative or Descriptive abstracts) These are brief outlines of the subjective materials in an articles in which details are omitted.( wards) 2. Informative Abstracts (evaluative abstracts) These should contain all key concepts & important information mentioned in the article. (about 250 wards) Abstracting

Secondary Literature23 To indicate to readers quickly whether the full article would be useful to read. To be extracted (or abstracted) from the article for separate publication (e.g., by Biological Abstracts or Chemical Abstracts). To provide terminology to assist in literature searches by individuals or by literature retrieval specialists for indexes & computer banks.(Key Words). Purposes of Abstract

Secondary Literature24 Informative self-explanatory without referring to the main text. generally restricted in length (not exceeds 250 words) complete abstract should state clearly the objective of the study & summarizing the procedure results & author’s conclusion. Ideal Abstract

Secondary Literature25 Key Words Keywords are used in referencing & indexing. Usually not more than 10 words are included. Keywords generally appear immediately below the abstract.

Secondary Literature26 SINGLE DOSE PREOPERATIVE PROPHYLAXIS IN TRANSURETHRAL SURGERY: CIPROFL0XACrN VERSUS CEFOTAXIME Christensen, M.M., Nielsen, K.T., Knes, J. and Madsen, P.O. Am. J. Med. 87:258S-260S (Nov 30 Supply) Indicative Abstract Single dose intravenous (IV) ciprofloxacin (I) and cefotaxime (II) are evaluated in a double blind study in male patients, 37 receiving, (1),300 mg, and 39 receiving II, 1.0 g, for preoperative prophylaxis in transurethral surgery. Examples of indicative and informative abstracts

Secondary Literature27 Single dose intravenous (JV) ciprofloxacin (I) and cefotaxime (II) are evaluated in a double blind study in male patients, 37 receiving, 1,300 mg, and 39 receiving II, 1.0 g, for preoperative prophylaxis in transurethral surgery. There were no symptomatic urinary tract infections or other infections after prostate and bladder surgery and no serious post surgery complications in any of the patients. Serum and prostatic tissue levels, as well as the tissue/serum ratios are included for 13 I patients. The most common side effect was postoperative nausea in 15 patients, 111 and 4 II patients. It is concluded that both drugs are effective and safe in reducing tree frequency of bacteriuria following transurethral surgery; there is no significant different between the 2 groups. (13 references). Informative Abstract (example)

Examples of Secondary Sources

PubMed Provides free access to MEDLINE, NLM's database of citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems, and preclinical sciences.

MEDLINE ® MEDLINE is a bibliographic database contains journal citations and abstracts for biomedical literature from around the world. MEDLINE is avaliable through the National Library of Medicine (NLM) website.

MEDLINE ® Coverage includes basic and clinical sciences as well as nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and many other health care disciplines. Information comes from more than 5000 journals in 40 different languages. This database is available through a variety of publishers; free access to content is available via PubMed (

Division of Drug Information Service, University of Iowa. The IDIS database consists of full-text articles and an index of article citations selected from 200 English language journals.

IDIS index articles that pertain to drug use in humans, identifying the main drugs and diseases. Descriptors, such as type of article, routes of administration, side effects and pharmacokinetics, are used to help specify information contained in each article, facilitating easy retrieval of relevant articles

Because a lag time is involved in the indexing and selection of articles to be included in IDIS, it may not be as current as some of the other secondary resources available,which may limit its utility. The database is sold on a subscription basis. Full-text articles are available on CD-ROM and the web.

Secondary Literature35 Iowa Drug Information System (IDIS) College of Pharmacy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. An indexing service that allows retrieval of complete articles from over 180 biomedical journals. Information can be searched by keywords, generic drug name, disease classification, journal of publication, year of publication, authors, title, and type of study design.

Secondary Literature36 Iowa Drug Information System (IDIS) Available in microfiche, CDROM, and on-line formats. Articles published prior to 1998 are only available in microfiche format. After 1998, the articles are available in a microfiche format and a CD-ROM full-text version. Updated monthly. We have the system starting from Jan 1998.

EMBASE Elsevier, EMBASE is a comprehensive abstracting service covering biomedical literature world wide. This database covers material similar to MEDLINE,but with greater coverage of international publications. EMBASE is useful when seeking information about dietary supplements or medications that may be available in other countries.

Secondary Literature38 Embase Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A very complete abstracting source for the medical literature. Covers approximately 4500 periodicals. This publication is in many ways similar to Medline, however, it covers more international journals and meeting abstracts. Available in CD-ROM, network, and on-line formats. (Printed version is called Excerpta Medica.) Drugs and Pharmacology, a subset of this database, is of particular interest to pharmacists.

Cochrane Library This database has three components including: – Indexes of Cochrane reviews about a variety of medical treatments, conditions, and alternative therapies;. – Abstracts of international systematic reviews. – Bibliography of systematic reviews in worldwide literature. These evidence-based medicine reviews are based on extensive analysis of current literature, and provide treatment recommendations.

Google Scholar Google ( It is designed to target scholarly materials available online, in a variety of professional areas including health care.

LexisNexis This indexing and abstracting service covers a variety of information, including medical, legal, and business news. Some publications are available full text through this service. This resource is helpful when attempting to locate information about recent medical news or research.

Secondary Literature42 LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe, Dayton, OH. This indexing/abstracting service with some full-text features provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.

Secondary Literature43 LEXIS-NEXIS This service includes coverage of government, business, communications, law, finance, health care and medical information news, medical and health care journals, Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organization publications, and FDC publications including The Tan Sheets, The Pink Sheets, and Pharmaceutical Approvals Monthly. Available for a fee at >

Secondary Literature44 MEDLINE National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. Medline is bibliographic database containing more than 12 million citations and author abstracts from over 4800 biomedical journals published in the United States and 70 other countries. Medline covering extends back to the early 1950’s and up to now with new data added weekly.. Available on CD-ROM or via on-line services including the Internet as Grateful Med or part of PubMed >

Secondary Literature45 International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA) American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Bethesda, MD. The most comprehensive abstracting service for international information relevant to pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. Provides access to both journal articles and pharmacy meeting abstracts. Available as a print index, CD-ROM formats, and as an on-line service. Published twice a month or updated monthly. Covers about 800 journal s

Reactions weekly Adis International ( A weekly indexing/abstracting service summarizing literature involving adverse events, drug interactions, drug dependence, and toxicology data. This resource is especially useful when seeking case reports of adverse reactions or other information on drug safety.

Secondary Literature47 Anti-infectives Today Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current Literature on drug therapy and management of infections. Available as newsletter and a variety of electronic formats. Published monthly.

Secondary Literature48 BIOSIS Previews BIOSIS, Philadelphia. A major comprehensive resource that covers all areas of biological research, including the biomedical sciences. Meeting and conference citations include the basic sciences; may be more comprehensive than MEDLINE.

Secondary Literature49 Cancer Today Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current literature on the use of drugs in the management of cancer. Available as newsletter and a variety of electronic formats. Published monthly.

Secondary Literature50 ClinAlert Technomic Publishing Company, Lancaster, PA. A secondary system of adverse drug reaction case reports including herbal products and literature citations including herbal products. Available as a newsletter, CD-ROM, and on the Internet. Published semimonthly. Reviews about 100 journals; about $lOO/year

Secondary Literature51 CNS Disorders Today Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current literature on all aspects of drug therapy and disease management of psychiatric and neurologic disorders. Available as newsletter and a variety of electronic formats. Published monthly.

Secondary Literature52 Current Contents Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia. A system that provides tables of contents for numerous medical and life sciences publications. Two versions useful to pharmacists, Current Contents Life Sciences and Current Contents Clinical Medicine, are available. Author abstracts and author reprint addresses for journal articles also provided. Use of specific search terms enables specific information retrieval. Available as index ($442/year), CD-ROM $I,OOO/year, online, and Internet formats. Published weekly. Provides table of contents for more than 7500 different journals;

Secondary Literature53 Index Medicus U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. An index to the biomedical literature that references over 3000 journals. Note that this is a printed subset of MEDLINE

Secondary Literature54 Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current literature related to pharmacotherapy. Available in newsletter, CD-ROM, on-line, Intranet, and Internet formats. Published weekly. Reviewing about 1500 journal. Lag time 2weeks-2 months. InPharma Weekly

Secondary Literature55 Journal Watch Massachusetts Medical Society, Waltham, MA. An abstracting service by the publishers of New England Journal of Medicine that includes recent citations from general medicine literature This newsletter is published semimonthly. Additional newsletters are available in specialty areas such as psychiatry, infectious disease, women’s health, and AIDS.

Secondary Literature56 Pediatrics Today Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current literature on the use of drugs in children. Available as newsletter and a variety of electronic formats. Published monthly.

Secondary Literature57 PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News Weekly Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current literature on economic issues related to medicine, pharmacy, and health care. Available in newsletter, CD-ROM, and on-line formats. Published weekly.

Secondary Literature58 Adis International, Inc., Langhorne, PA. An indexing and abstracting service that summarizes current literature on adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, herbal products, drug dependence, and toxicology. Available in newsletter, CD-ROM, on-line, Intranet, and Internet formats. Published weekly. An annual compilation is also published. Reviewing about 1500 journal. Lag time 1-2 months. Reactions Weekly

Secondary Literature59 Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia. An index that notes citation frequency of authors and journal articles. Available in network, CD-ROM, on-line, and Internet formats. Science Citation Index