Global Index Medicus Help Guide

About

Content

• Provides access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low- and middle- income countries
• Indexes journals from countries other than the US and Europe to a greater extent than most major health sciences databases
  • If you’re researching a global health topic or if you want to capture health literature published in more countries, include GIM, one of the other global health resources, or both!
• Includes
  • African Index Medicus (AIM),
  • Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR),
  • Index Medicus for the South-East Asia Region (IMSEAR),
  • Latin America and the Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS), and
  • Western Pacific Region Index Medicus (WPRIM). 

Creator

• Collated and aggregated by WHO Regional Office Libraries

Access

• The database is freely available to everyone, so you will have access even if you leave UW.
• Most articles found by GIM are also free to access.

Search Global Index Medicus

By searching Global Index Medicus (GIM), you can search any or all the following regional databases. 

• African Index Medicus (AIM) 
• Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR) 
  • GIM is three years behind on adding the latest research from IMEMR in GIM as of March 2024. Search IMEMR directly to view the latest research! 
• Index Medicus for the South-East Asia Region (IMSEAR)
  • GIM is two years behind on adding the latest research from IMSEAR in GIM as of March 2024. Search IMSEAR directly to view the latest research! 
• Latin America and the Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences (LILACS)
• Western Pacific Region Index Medicus (WPRO)

Maintenance

Teresa Jewell and Leslie Gascon created and maintain this guide, please let us know if you have feedback through this Google Form. 

Acknowledgements

Teresa and Leslie revised and improved this guide based on the following people's thoughtful review and feedback. 

• Caitlin Maloy 
• Leah DeSantis 
• Electra Enslow 
• Rachel Blume
• Diana Louden 
• Strategic Analysis, Research & Training (START) Center researchers, including
  • Sarah Hicks 
  • Ana Krause 

Accessibility feedback for the guide was provided by the following people (the database was not reviewed for accessibility as that responsibility is within the scope of the WHO and only within their ability to address). 

• Hadi Rangin, IT Accessibility Specialist, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services 
• Jeane Marty, Accessibility Developer, UW-IT Accessible Services