A comparison of data bases for retrieving references to the literature on drugs

The main indexes to recent drug literature have been studied using a file of nearly 400 references to a new class of drugs, the histamine H₂-receptor antagonists. The results are analysed with reference to the inclusion of references in the data bases, retrieval by searches for non-proprietary names, and timeliness. It has been found that the systems examined—ASCA, Ringdoc, Drugdoc, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts and Medlars/Index Medicus—differ considerably in their coverage of conference abstracts and their indexing of general articles, although they all retrieve most of the main pharmacological papers. Attention is drawn to the high proportion of conference abstracts in the literature of this expanding field.