Embase (Excerpta Medica Database) is one of the world's most comprehensive and authoritative biomedical and pharmacological databases, maintained and published by Elsevier.

Embase is specifically designed to support biomedical research, pharmacovigilance, drug safety monitoring, evidence-based medicine, and systematic reviews. It covers a wide range of biomedical disciplines including pharmacology, drug research, toxicology, clinical medicine, biomedical engineering, public health, and health policy.

The database indexes over 8,500 journals from 95 countries, containing more than 40 million records dating back to 1947. This makes Embase one of the oldest and most extensive biomedical literature databases in existence.

What makes Embase unique is its extensive coverage of drug-related literature, with approximately 2,900 journals that are indexed exclusively in Embase and not available in MEDLINE/PubMed. This unique content makes Embase indispensable for comprehensive literature searches, especially in pharmacology and drug safety research.

The history of Embase begins with Excerpta Medica, which was founded in 1946 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by a group of physicians and scientists who recognized the need for a comprehensive abstracting service for biomedical literature.

In 1947, Excerpta Medica began publishing a series of abstract journals covering various medical specialties. These printed abstract journals became essential resources for medical professionals and researchers worldwide, providing structured summaries of the latest biomedical research.

In 1971, the Excerpta Medica abstract journals were converted into an electronic database called EMBASE (Excerpta Medica dataBASE), making it one of the earliest electronic biomedical databases in the world.

In 1991, Elsevier acquired Excerpta Medica and took over the management of the Embase database. Under Elsevier's stewardship, Embase underwent significant expansion and modernization.

In 2010, Elsevier launched Embase.com, a completely redesigned platform with advanced search capabilities, improved user interface, and integration with other Elsevier products. The platform introduced features like drug and disease search mappings, PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) search, and automated systematic review tools.

In 2013, Embase records were enhanced with the inclusion of MEDLINE records, allowing users to search both Embase-unique content and MEDLINE content from a single platform. This made Embase a truly comprehensive biomedical search tool.

Today, Embase continues to be the gold standard for biomedical and pharmaceutical literature searching, used extensively by regulatory agencies like the FDA, EMA (European Medicines Agency), pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and research institutions worldwide.

Emtree is Embase's proprietary controlled vocabulary and thesaurus system used for indexing biomedical literature. It is one of the most comprehensive life science thesauri available and is a key feature that distinguishes Embase from other databases.

Emtree contains over 90,000 preferred terms including drug names, disease terms, medical device terms, and biological concepts. These terms are organized in a hierarchical structure with broader and narrower terms, enabling precise and efficient literature searching.

Drug Indexing: Emtree has the most comprehensive drug terminology of any biomedical thesaurus, covering over 3,000 generic drug names, 280,000+ trade names, and chemical names. Each drug record includes information about drug class, mechanism of action, and therapeutic use.

Disease Indexing: Emtree contains over 7,500 disease terms organized hierarchically, allowing researchers to search for specific conditions or broader disease categories.

Medical Devices: Emtree includes over 5,000 medical device terms, making Embase a valuable resource for medical device research and regulatory submissions.

Emtree is continuously updated by a team of biomedical indexers who manually assign indexing terms to each record in Embase, ensuring high-quality and consistent indexing across the database.

Embase covers a wide range of biomedical and life science disciplines. The key subject areas include:

Pharmacology & Drug Research: This is Embase's strongest area. It provides comprehensive coverage of drug development, clinical trials, drug safety, adverse drug reactions, pharmacovigilance, and pharmaceutical sciences.

Clinical Medicine: Embase covers all clinical specialties including cardiology, oncology, neurology, psychiatry, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology, and internal medicine.

Basic Biomedical Sciences: Coverage includes biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, microbiology, immunology, pathology, physiology, and anatomy.

Public Health & Epidemiology: Embase indexes journals covering epidemiology, public health policy, health economics, health services research, and occupational health.

Biomedical Engineering & Devices: Coverage of biomedical engineering, medical devices, diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation technology, and health informatics.

Toxicology & Environmental Health: Extensive coverage of toxicology, environmental health, occupational toxicology, and chemical safety.

Alternative & Complementary Medicine: Embase also indexes journals covering traditional medicine, herbal medicine, acupuncture, and other complementary therapies.

Forensic Medicine & Legal Medicine: Coverage includes forensic science, forensic pathology, and medico-legal aspects of healthcare.

Embase indexing holds significant importance in the biomedical and pharmaceutical research community. Here's why it matters:

1. Essential for Systematic Reviews: Cochrane Collaboration and other major systematic review organizations recommend searching Embase alongside MEDLINE/PubMed for comprehensive literature reviews. Relying on PubMed alone may miss up to 30% of relevant studies that are only indexed in Embase.

2. Drug Safety & Pharmacovigilance: Regulatory agencies like the FDA and EMA require Embase searches for drug safety signal detection, pharmacovigilance, and regulatory submissions. Embase is the primary database for post-marketing drug surveillance.

3. Unique Journal Coverage: Embase indexes approximately 2,900 journals not covered by MEDLINE/PubMed, particularly from European and Asian publishers. This unique content makes Embase essential for comprehensive biomedical research.

4. Superior Drug Indexing: Embase's Emtree thesaurus provides the most detailed drug indexing of any biomedical database, making it the preferred tool for pharmacological literature searching.

5. Conference Abstract Coverage: Embase indexes conference abstracts from major biomedical conferences, providing access to the latest research findings before they are published in full journal articles. Over 2 million conference abstracts are available in Embase.

6. Research Credibility: Publishing in an Embase-indexed journal enhances the visibility and credibility of research within the biomedical community. It signals that the journal meets quality standards for inclusion in a major international database.

7. Health Technology Assessment (HTA): Embase is widely used by HTA agencies worldwide for evaluating the effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of health technologies and treatments.

Getting a journal indexed in Embase requires meeting Elsevier's quality criteria. Here is the process:

Step 1: Meet Basic Eligibility – The journal must be a peer-reviewed biomedical or pharmaceutical publication with a valid ISSN. It must publish original research, reviews, or clinical studies in English (or have English-language abstracts). The journal must have an active website with clear editorial policies and author guidelines.

Step 2: Demonstrate Quality Standards – The journal must have a recognized editorial board with expertise in the journal's subject area. It must follow established peer review practices and adhere to ethical publishing standards outlined by organizations like COPE, ICMJE, and WAME.

Step 3: Build Publication Track Record – The journal should have been publishing consistently for at least 2 years with a regular publication schedule. It should demonstrate diversity in authorship and institutional affiliation.

Step 4: Submit Application – Submit the journal for evaluation through the Elsevier Embase Journal Suggestion Form available on the Elsevier website. Provide detailed information about the journal's scope, editorial process, publication history, and biomedical relevance.

Step 5: Evaluation by Embase Advisory Board – The Embase Advisory Board (EAB), composed of independent biomedical experts, evaluates the journal based on scientific quality, editorial standards, relevance to the biomedical field, and publishing regularity.

Step 6: Decision & Indexing – If accepted, the journal's content is indexed in Embase with Emtree subject headings. Articles are processed and made available on the Embase platform. The evaluation process typically takes 6-12 months.

Step 7: Ongoing Monitoring – Indexed journals are subject to continuous quality monitoring. Journals that fail to maintain standards may be removed from Embase.

Embase and PubMed/MEDLINE are the two most important biomedical literature databases. Understanding their differences is crucial for comprehensive literature searching:

Operator: Embase is maintained by Elsevier (subscription-based), while PubMed is maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and is freely accessible.

Coverage: Embase indexes over 8,500 journals while MEDLINE covers approximately 5,200 journals. Embase includes approximately 2,900 unique journals not found in MEDLINE, particularly European and Asian biomedical journals.

Drug & Pharmacology Focus: Embase has significantly stronger coverage of drug research, pharmacology, and pharmaceutical sciences. Its Emtree thesaurus provides more detailed drug indexing than MEDLINE's MeSH vocabulary.

Conference Abstracts: Embase indexes over 2 million conference abstracts from major biomedical conferences. PubMed has very limited conference abstract coverage.

Geographic Coverage: Embase provides better coverage of European journals and journals from developing countries. MEDLINE has traditionally been more focused on North American journals.

Indexing Vocabulary: Embase uses Emtree (90,000+ terms) while MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) (29,000+ terms). Emtree is particularly superior for drug and device terminology.

Cost: PubMed/MEDLINE is freely accessible to everyone, while Embase requires an institutional or individual subscription.

Overlap: There is significant overlap between the two databases — approximately 50-60% of Embase content is also available in MEDLINE. However, the unique content in each database makes searching both essential for comprehensive systematic reviews.

For comprehensive biomedical literature searching, researchers are strongly advised to search both Embase and PubMed/MEDLINE to ensure no relevant studies are missed.

Publishing in an Embase-indexed journal follows similar steps to publishing in other indexed journals, with specific considerations for biomedical content:

• Select an Appropriate Journal: Choose an Embase-indexed journal that matches your research topic. You can search the Embase journal list on the Elsevier website or use our downloadable list to find suitable journals in your biomedical specialty.

• Prepare Your Manuscript: Write your research paper following ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) guidelines. For clinical research, follow appropriate reporting guidelines such as CONSORT (for clinical trials), PRISMA (for systematic reviews), STROBE (for observational studies), or ARRIVE (for animal studies).

• Obtain Ethical Approvals: Ensure your research has proper institutional ethics committee/IRB approval, informed consent from participants (for clinical studies), and clinical trial registration (for trials). These are mandatory requirements for most Embase-indexed journals.

• Check for Plagiarism: Use plagiarism detection tools like iThenticate or Turnitin to ensure originality. Most biomedical journals require a similarity index below 15-20%.

• Submit Online: Submit through the journal's official submission portal. Include a cover letter, conflict of interest declarations, author contribution statements, and all supplementary materials.

• Peer Review & Revision: Biomedical peer review typically takes 4-12 weeks. Address all reviewer comments thoroughly with point-by-point responses. Statistical reviewers may require additional analyses.

• Publication & Indexing: After acceptance and publication, the article will be indexed in Embase with appropriate Emtree subject headings, making it discoverable to researchers worldwide.

To verify if a journal is indexed in Embase, use the following methods:

• Embase Journal List: Visit the official Elsevier Embase Source List available on the Elsevier website and search for the journal by title or ISSN. This is the most reliable and official method.

• Embase.com Platform: If you have access to Embase.com, you can search for the journal in the source browser. If articles from the journal appear in search results, the journal is indexed.

• Journal's Own Website: Many journals display their indexing information on their website. Look for "Indexed in Embase" or "Excerpta Medica" in the journal's indexing section.

• Beware of False Claims: Some predatory journals falsely claim Embase indexing. Always verify through the official Elsevier Embase source list. Some journals may use terms like "Excerpta Medica" loosely without being properly indexed in the current Embase database.

• Check for Active Indexing: Some journals may have been previously indexed in Embase but later removed. Always verify the current indexing status rather than relying on historical claims.