A new study of the coverage of veterinary journals in bibliographic databases has reportedly shown that no search of veterinary literature is complete without reference to applied life sciences database CAB Abstracts.
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).
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%, than in any other database. The study concludes that to maximise journal coverage and to 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%. For 121 active veterinary journals in the Basic List of Veterinary Medical Serials, Third Edition, CAB Abstracts offered 97.5% coverage.
According to CABI, a dedication to international coverage sets CAB Abstracts apart from other databases. The database is said to include 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 supposedly see the fullest global picture for any subject.
