ACCESSSS

The literature database ACCESSSS is freely available in the UMM hospital and faculty networks or after free registration. ACCESSSS is especially aimed at physicians, as one can simultaneously search in DynaMed, EBM Guidelines and for evaluated or commented systematic reviews and studies, and subscribe to new articles from about 60 specialist areas.

The most important part is the McMaster PLUS database with over 3000 collaboratively rated articles per year from around 120 top journals.

The PLUS System

Several thousand articles per year are selected from around 120 top journals (including Cochrane Systematic Reviews) based on scientific criteria. Afterwards, keywords are used for disciplines, categories, populations and article type (review or original), which can be used as filters in the search via Advanced Options, see section "Search Options".

Over 5000 physicians (as well as many nursing and rehabilitation specialists) rate these articles according to relevance and newsworthiness on a 7-point scale and are allowed to write comments. If at least three raters per subject assign an average of >=4 for relevance and newsworthiness, the article is added to the database (average of 3300 articles per year since 2004).

Further information about PLUS.

Hierarchy of Evidence (List of results)

The results are clearly arranged according to a hierarchy of evidence, supported by a colour system.

Summary Clinical Texts (Clinical practice textbooks that are based on an explicit systematic review process)
Results from the DynaMed clinical information system licensed by us and results from EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) Guidelines (free access only via ACCESSS)
Systematic Guidelines (Clinical practice guidelines that are explicitly based on specified references from a high quality systematic review)
Guidelines via PLUS (recommended Systematic Guidelines)
Systematic Reviews (Systematic reviews and Evidence-based journal abstracts of selected systematic reviews)
PLUS Systematic Reviews (recommended Systematic Reviews) and Commented Systematic Reviews from the ACP Journal Club.
Original Studies (Original pre-appraised individual studies and Evidence-based abstracts of selected individual studies ("PLUS"))
PLUS Original Studies (recommended studies) and Commented Studies in ACP Journal Club

A maximum of 100 results are displayed per source.

Additionally, results (non-appraised) from PubMed Clinical Queries (CQ) and PubMed are displayed with the following restrictions: no animal studies, with abstract, English language, the last 5 years of publication.

Subscribe to new articles (by subject area)

Via Login > Register for a new account on the top right-hand side of the ACCESSSSS page you can register and at the same time subscribe to an e-mail notification about new PLUS hits for one or more of about 60 subject areas at the desired frequency. You can also use an RSS URL.

Search options

On the start page the PLUS Database can be switched from Physician to Nurse or Rehab.

Search terms are automatically suggested when you enter them.

By default, a term or automatically recognized phrase is searched for using different word forms and synonyms. This automatic search extension can be prevented by placing quotation marks ("term", "term term"). The Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT and parentheses are allowed, as is truncation/abbreviation of terms or phrases with *.

The Advanced Options link allows certain restrictions to be made.

Download and "Check full text" service

Results from PLUS can be displayed via With selected... for various reference management programs or as HTML pages. With personal login bibliographic references can be saved in your own account.

Results from PLUS link to PubMed with display of our "Check full text" service to retrieve or order full texts.

Access options

For external access, anyone can personally register with ACCESSSS free of charge. Simply select your own institution under Selected Library, University of Heidelberg, Faculty of Medicine Mannheim and you will have certain search settings such as the integration of DynaMed and the "Check full text" service.

Alternatively, library users with external access authorization from outside the faculty or clinic networks or in the faculty WLAN can also access ACCESSSSS via this link with their respective library identification.

Mobile access is possible without an app via an automatically adapting layout.

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