A new study of the coverage of veterinary journals in bibliographic databases has shown that no search of the veterinary literature is complete without reference to CAB Abstracts, the applied life sciences database.
The study covered nine bibliographic databases and coverage was assessed using lists of journals produced by the database providers. For an extensive list of 1,139 journals with significant veterinary content compiled from a variety of sources, coverage was much greater in CAB Abstracts, at 90.2 percent, than in any other database. The study concludes that to maximize journal coverage and avoid missing potentially relevant evidence, CAB Abstracts needs to be included in any veterinary literature search.
If veterinary researchers were not using CAB abstracts the maximum journal list they could obtain for this search was only 69.8 percent.
For 121 active veterinary journals in the Basic List of Veterinary Medical Serials, Third Edition, CAB Abstracts offered 97.5 percent coverage.
“We work hard to be comprehensive and up-to-date,” said Robert Taylor, CABI, “and we’re obviously delighted that this objective study has recognized the quality of CAB Abstracts for veterinary research and study.”
The study, Searching the Veterinary Literature: A Comparison of the Coverage of Veterinary Journals by Nine Bibliographic Databases by Douglas J.C. Grindlay, Marnie L. Brennan, and Rachel S. Dean, based at the Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine, University of Nottingham, is published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education (2012).
A dedication to international coverage sets CAB Abstracts apart from other databases. The database includes less well-known and non-English journals and those published by independent and learned publishers. Coverage of the applied life sciences includes agriculture, environment, veterinary sciences, applied economics, food science and nutrition. With publications from over 116 countries in 50 languages, including English abstracts for most articles, researchers see the fullest global picture for any subject. For more information on CABI go to htp://www.cabi.org.
