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Global Index Medicus Help Guide

Database with international coverage of Health Sciences topics.

Accessibility Note

Items you need to type, click, or press will be displayed in computer code style.

  • If you have the option to adjust your screen reader's settings to notify you when there is an HTML tag for "code", that will help to alert you to these items. This is not a typical setting for screen readers, so we have written the guide to clearly signal when text is meant to be clicked or typed (e.g., most example searches are preceded by the term "Example:");
  • Searches must be entered exactly as they appear, including all punctuation like quotes and parentheses.
    • Because of this, screen reader users should enable their readers to pronounce punctuation while using this guide and when writing search strings for GIM. Strings can be composed in a text document with punctuation on then run in GIM with punctuation off.
  • Boolean operators (like AND, OR, and AND NOT) should be typed in all capitals to ensure the database recognizes them as operators. 

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Global Index Medicus (GIM)

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

Regional Databases

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 about 2 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 about 1 year 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)
Please note: You may find the latest research from IMEMR and IMSEAR by searching those indices on the regional offices' websites in addition to searching GIM for the latest research from AIM, LILACS, and WPRO. The regional office versions may not follow the same syntax as GIM.

Authors

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