Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases

The databases and resources listed below are excellent tools for identifying literature and research about infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant women. Where appropriate, we've included tips and search examples on how to identify literature and research efficiently. Please note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter search phrases as shown in bold below.

Active Living Research. Citations for journal articles that examine how environments and policies influence active living for children and their families. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
Bioethics Literature and Resources. Citations to literature on bioethics and professional ethics, information about bioethics organizations, and descriptions of bioethics syllabi. Preconception, pregnancy, and mental health are among the maternal and child health (MCH) topics addressed. Georgetown University.
Child Care and Early Education Research Connections. An online research library on child care and early childhood education research topics. National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
Children, Youth, and Families At-Risk Program (CYFAR). Program development and evaluation tools, curricula, and educational materials about child and adolescent development and parenting for professionals who work with children, adolescents, and families. National network of land-grant university faculty and county extension educators. National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Access to state-specific resources, publications, an online library catalog, and educational resources about child welfare, child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption. Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
ClinicalTrials.gov. Information about clinical research studies for a wide range of diseases and conditions. Use the Advanced Search feature to limit your search by age group, among other criteria. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Information about documents covering all aspects of education-related issues. Search example: To identify resources on bullying, enter bullying in the search box. Click on Search. Use the filters in the left navigation bar to further limit your search. Department of Education (ED).
Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC). Information about evaluated food and nutrition education and training materials, research reports, and other resources for nutrition educators and other health professionals, school food service and child nutrition personnel, and families, including pregnant women. Database topics include food safety, nutrition for pregnant women, nutrition education for Native Americans, food stamps, and dietary supplements. National Agricultural Library (NAL).
Foster Care. Information about websites and materials on the range of health care issues and needs of children and adolescents in foster care. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Harvard Kennedy School Library and Knowledge Services: Think Tank Search. Custom Google search of over 670 institutions affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity. The list represents a mixture of partisan and non-partisan think tanks. Links to other grey literature sources are included.
Healthy Housing: Tools and Data. Search for data, tools, policies, and best practices needed to improve housing quality in communities. Find journal articles, reports, and other materials about the connection between health and housing and safety hazards in the home. National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH).
Healthy People 20230 Evidence-Based Resources. Database of evidence-based resources for the Healthy People 2020 topic areas. The resources were selected and rated by subject matter experts at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Maternal and Child Health Bureau Division of Research: Funded Projects Search. Information about research grants issued annually by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Also lists grantee publications by year.
MedlinePlus. Links to information in English and Spanish on over 900 diseases, illnesses, health conditions, and wellness issues. Also links to prescription and nonprescription drug information; a medical encyclopedia; a medical dictionary; health news; health directories; video and audio clips; and health information in multiple languages. National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Minority Health and Health Equity Archive. Online catalog of digital resource materials in the fields of minority health and health disparities research and policy. University of Maryland Center for Health Equity.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series. Public health recommendations, reports, and surveillance summaries based on weekly reports by state health departments. Use Advanced Search to identify documents on your topic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
National Agricultural Library (NAL) Catalog (AGRICOLA). Online catalog of agricultural literature including many publications about child and adolescent nutrition and physical activity. AGRICOLA is organized into two bibliographic data sets (books and journal articles). Search example: To identify journal articles about the eating habits of adolescents, choose Keyword Search under Articles. Enter adolescent nutrition and select As a phrase and Subject in the two fields to the right. Click And. In the next row, enter eating habits and select As a phrase and Subject in the two fields to the right. Click on Search to get your results. Click on Post Limit to narrow your search results (e.g., add a publication date limit).
Families and Youth Services Bureau. Online resource of publications that focus on child and adolescent development and family issues.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database. Online catalog of criminal justice, juvenile justice, and substance abuse reports, articles, and audiovisual materials from the United States and internationally. Topics include bullying, domestic violence, drugs, gangs, school safety, underage drinking, and victims. Department of Justice.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT): NIH RePORTER. Access to reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities, including information on NIH expenditures and the results of NIH-supported research.
National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) Library. Online catalog of materials about sexual violence, its causes and impact, and intervention and prevention strategies. National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR), and AEquitas: The Prosectors' Resource on Violence Against Women.
Native Health Database. Online catalog of health-related articles, reports, surveys, and other documents about the health and health care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations. University of New Mexico Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.
POPLINE® (POPulation information onLINE). Online catalog of scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports about reproductive health. Select a topic on the right side of the screen for an instant search of the database. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
PubMed. Citations for biomedical articles from MEDLINE and life science journals. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites. Use the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) database to identify terms. Search example: To identify articles about asthma in children and adolescents, enter the term asthma in the search box. Click on Search. Click on Choose additional filters in the left navigation bar. Click on Ages and Search fields. Click on Apply. Under Ages, click on more... Click on Child: 0-18 years. If another box is already checked, you may click on it to uncheck it. Click on Apply. Under Search fields, click on Choose. Select MeSH Major Topic and click on Apply. Click on the other filters in the left navigation bar to further limit your search (i.e., Publication dates, Species, Article types, Languages). Add terms to narrow your search further (e.g., asthma AND patient education, asthma AND school, asthma AND smoking). National Library of Medicine (NLM).
Rare Disease Database. Disease reports about rare diseases that include information about symptoms, causes, affected populations, related disorders, therapies, and organizations to contact for further information. National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).
REHABDATA. Online catalog of reports, studies, papers, journal articles, and books about disability and rehabilitation. Topics include physical, mental, and psychiatric disabilities, independent living, vocational rehabilitation, special education, assistive technology, law, employment, and other issues related to people with disabilities. National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC).
SafetyLit: Injury Prevention Literature Update and Archive Database. Abstracts of reports and journal articles about injury prevention and safety promotion. Subscribe to the SafetyLit Bulletin and receive a weekly update about new additions to the database.
Science.gov. Gateway to science information and research results from over 50 scientific databases on topics that include health and medicine. Interagency initiative of 16 government science organizations within 12 federal agencies.
State School Health Policy Database. State laws and policies in key areas of school health. Child Trends.
TOXNET (Toxicology Data Network). Databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases. National Library of Medicine (NLM).
VetoViolence. Resource and materials for youth-violence-prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Related MCH Digital Library Resources

Maternal and Child Health Data and Statistics resource brief
Maternal and Child Health Programs Databases resource brief

Maternal and Child Health Literature and Research Databases: Resource Brief.

Authors: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., NCEMCH; Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., NCEMCH.