HarrellGuides: Medical Education Research: Journals and Databases for Medical Education Research

Selecting a Journal for Your Publication

2022 Annotated Bibliography of Journals for Educational Scholarship
Created by a AAMC group, this lists and describes journals that accept medical education research for publication, including specialty journals

Top Medical Education Journals available through Harrell Health Sciences Library

Academic Medicine
Advances in Health Sciences Education
Advances in Physiology Education
Anatomical Sciences Education
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education
BMC medical education
Journal of Surgical Education
Medical Education
Medical Teacher
Teaching and Learning in Medicine
(Available through 2020; use interlibrary loan to request more recent articles.)

One-Pager on Searching the Literature

Look on Page 17 of Conducting Research in Health Professions Education for an excellent one-page primer on how to conduct a thorough literature search using library databases.

Nancy Adams in Harrell Health Sciences Library: Research and Learning Commons can help you plan a more effective literature search.

Search These Databases to Find Health Sciences Education Articles

If you are planning to do a systematic review, you may need to search other databases in addition to the ones listed below. The library now offers a systematic review service--ask us how we can help!

PubMed (MEDLINE)
Start here for any medical education literature search. Indexes medical education journals, plus education-related articles published in specialty or general medical journals.
CINAHL
May contain relevant education-related articles in fields of nursing, dentistry, therapy, and other health professions. Much overlap with PubMed, but you will also find some unique publications here.
ERIC
World's largest database of education literature. Some overlap with PubMed, but should be included in any comprehensive search. Not just journal articles: includes conference proceedings, dissertations, reports, and other documents on adult education, higher education, educational theory, assessment, leadership, educational psychology, policy, statistics, etc.
PsycINFO
May contain relevant articles in learning, neurobehavioral sciences, psychological theory, assessment, etc.
Web of Science
Use to find the most highly cited articles on an educational topic, or to find how many times a specific article was cited.
MedEdPortal
Repository of free peer-reviewed teaching materials, including presentation materials, lesson plans, and assessment resources. A service of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Search Terms to Use in PubMed

Increase your precision in searching PubMed for medical education literature by using these search links. Add your own search terms to the search box on PubMed (using appropriate connectors such as AND and OR) to refine the search. You can also use them by copying and pasting the search terms, including quotation marks, into the PubMed search box.

Note that searching this way increases precision, but eliminates the most recently-published articles from your results, because new articles have not yet been tagged with MeSH terms (medical subject headings). Contact the library liaison pictured at the left for more information or help in doing a literature search.

"Education, Medical"[Mesh]
Use this to find general articles concerning medical education. This search includes all of the more specific types of education listed below.
"Education, Medical, Undergraduate"[Mesh]
The period of medical education in a medical school. In the United States it follows the baccalaureate degree and precedes the granting of the M.D.
"Education, Medical, Graduate"[Mesh]
Educational programs for medical graduates entering a specialty. They include formal specialty training as well as academic work in the clinical and basic medical sciences, and may lead to board certification or an advanced medical degree.
"Internship and Residency"[Mesh]
Programs of training in medicine and medical specialties offered by hospitals for graduates of medicine to meet the requirements established by accrediting authorities. This subject heading is more specific than "graduate medical education."
"Education, Medical, Continuing"[Mesh]
Educational programs designed to inform physicians of recent advances in their field.