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Global Health: Finding Articles & Books

Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide."

Global Health Resources

Global health is a multidisciplinary and collaborative field that embraces transnational research and action to promote health equity for all.  The field of global health includes socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural factors which may directly or indirectly affect health matters. This guide provides resources and services to support the global health research of UTHealth SPH faculty and students working on campus and in the field. It includes resources with medical, socioeconomic, political, cultural, and environmental perspectives. 

Understanding Article Types

You may need to consult various databases depending on the topic and type of information you are seeking. 

Here are some common article types used in global health research:

Primary research articles: Are articles reporting original research results. These articles are most often published in peer-reviewed journals. They typically include: an abstract, introduction/background, methods, results, conclusion, and a list of references. When searching in databases,these are filtered by the document type> Articles in databases.

Review articles: Are also most often published in peer-reviewed journals. Review articles synthesize and summarize a particular topic or area of research. They typically do not provide original research results, but provide excellent background information on the state of the research on a particular topic. Often these are filtered by the document type > Review in databases.

Systematic reviews: Are a very specific type of literature review that provide comprehensive, high-level analyses and summaries of all existing literature surrounding a specific research question. 

News:  Written by journalists for public audiences, news articles provide vital background information and current reporting on many global health topics. News is distributed in printed newspapers and magazines, as well as online through news media websites, blogs, social media, and radio/TV broadcasts. In global health research, news sources might also serve as primary sources for understanding how health topics are disseminated to the public via local newspapers or informal publications.

Grey literature: Produced by government agencies, think tanks, academics, business and industry in print and online formats, but not controlled by commercial publishers. Material types may include: technical reports, pre-prints, conference proceedings, bibliographies, workshop summaries, government documents, policy briefs, and dissertations. Many of these materials are ephemeral and accessible for free online via the agency website that produces the reports (ex. NGO, WHO, US Gov’t). Grey literature is an important source to consider for global health research. 

Article Databases for Global Health

Top cited journals in Global Health available through the UT School of Public Health Library and the Texas Medical Center Library. Users will need to authenticate their institutional affiliation through Shibboleth or Open Athens.

Global Health Search Tips

To find resources about and related to the subject matter of global health, try using these keywords, phrases, and subject headings while searching:

  • global health
  • global public health
  • international health
  • international cooperation
  • public health
  • public health administration
  • world health

Vital Books on Global Health at SPH