CDC Science Clips:
Enhancing Access to
Scientific Information
for the Public Health Workforce
John Iskander MD MPH
CAPT, U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS)
Senior Medical Consultant
Office of the Associate Director for Science (OADS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
April 18, 2013
OADS Vision and Mission
• Vision
– Excellent public health science is available
and regularly used to solve important real
world problems
• Mission
– Ensure the quality and integrity of CDC
science and encourage the use of the best
science to solve public health problems
Frequently Used Terms
• Medline: the National Library of Medicine®
(NLM®) journal citation database
– Started in the 1960s, it now provides over 20
million references to biomedical and life sciences
journal articles back to 1946
– MEDLINE includes citations from approximately
5,600 scholarly journals
Frequently Used Terms
• PubMed: over 22 million references include
the MEDLINE database plus:
– In-process citations, citations to articles that are out-of-scope
from certain MEDLINE journals, "Ahead of Print" citations,
citations that precede the date that a journal was selected for
indexing, Pre-1966 citations that have not yet been updated,
citations to some additional life sciences journals that submit
full text to PMC® (PubMed Central®), citations to author
manuscripts of articles published by NIH-funded
researchers, Citations for the majority of books available on
the NCBI Bookshelf
• Bottom line: PubMed is Medline ++
Frequently Used Terms
• PubMed Central (PMC): launched in 2000 as
a free archive for full-text biomedical and life
sciences journal articles
• PMC is a repository for journal literature
deposited by participating publishers, as well
as for manuscripts submitted in compliance
with the NIH Public Access Policy
– Some PMC journals are also MEDLINE journals
– There are reciprocal links between the full text in
PMC and corresponding citations in PubMed
Frequently Used Terms
• Open-access literature is “digital, online, free
of charge, and free of most copyright and
licensing restrictions”
– legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm
• Public Access: free availability of published
results of government-funded research
– White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy (OSTP)
– www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/library/publicaccesspolicy
• What is Science Clips?
– A weekly public health literature compilation
service, intended to serve as “scientific situational
awareness”
– Produced by OADS and the CDC Public Health
Library and Information Center (PHLIC) since
August 2009
– Emphasis on applied public health and prevention
science that has the capacity to improve health
What is Included in Science Clips?
• CDC-authored articles (any article with at least
one CDC-affiliated author)
• Public health articles covered in news media,
even if not CDC-authored
• Key articles in featured topic areas selected by
CDC subject matter experts (SME)
How Does Science Clips Identify
CDC publications?
• The PHLIC Staff search 8 databases
(Embase, Global Health, Web of Science,
Compendex, CINAHL, Psych Abs,
NIOSHTIC-2 and PubMed) to find articles
authored by CDC staff. This includes authors
affiliated with:
– CDC, NIOSH, ATSDR, NCHS, and the Epidemic
Intelligence Service (EIS)
– All materials are included as long as they are less
than 8 weeks old
NIOSH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
ATSDR: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
NCHS: National Center for Health Statistics
CINAHL: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
Publications
Science Clips “Vocabulary”
(categorization of articles)*
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Chronic Diseases and Conditions
Communicable Diseases
Community Health Services
Disaster Control and Emergency Services
Disease Reservoirs and Vectors
Drug Safety
Entomology
Environmental Health
Epidemiology and Surveillance
Food Safety
Genetics and Genomics
Geology
Global Health
Health Behavior and Risk
Health Disparities
Health Communication and Education
Healthcare Associated Infections
Healthcare Economics
Immune System Disorders
Immunity and Immunization
Informatics
Injury and Violence
Laboratory Sciences
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Maternal and Child Health
Medicine
Military Medicine and Health
Mining
MMWR in the Media
Nursing
Nutritional Sciences
Obituary
Occupational Safety and Health
Occupational Safety and Health – Mining
Parasitic Diseases
Physical Activity
Program Evaluation
Public Health Ethics
Public Health, General
Public Health Law
Public Health Leadership and Management
Reproductive Health
Sciences, General
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Statistics as Topic
Substance Use and Abuse
Veterinary Medicine
Vital Statistics
Zoonoses
*Each article is assigned one subject heading; articles in all headings are tagged as
"Global Health" when appropriate
How is Science Clips Distributed
Outside of CDC?
• As of November 2011, CDC sends the
Science Clips weekly digest to external
subscribers through the Govdelivery system,
an email listserv system used extensively by
CDC that allows for rapid distribution of
information to a large number of subscribers
• Most external subscribers are affiliated with
state and local health departments
• 2,873 subscribers during 2012 fiscal year
Limitations and Disclaimer
• Possible under ascertainment of CDC publications
• CDC PHLIC does not have immediate full text access
to all journals that CDC authors might publish in
• Science Clips is in the public domain and may be
freely forwarded and reproduced without permission;
the original sources and the CDC Science Clips
should be cited as needed
Does Science Clips Only Contain
Finalized Publications?
• To highlight emerging scientific information,
some articles included in Science Clips may
be uncorrected proofs (i.e. articles that have
not yet been finalized by the authors in the
editing process)
• Articles of this type may be subject to change
before final publication
– Clips users should consult journal websites for
details regarding final article posting/publication
and citation policies and formats
How Are the “Top Ten"
Articles Selected?
• The full content of Science Clips is reviewed
each week by a senior medical officer or
health scientist, who selects the "top ten"
featured articles based primarily on
population impact and translation potential
– Other factors, including media interest, relevance
to CDC Winnable Battles and Strategic Priorities,
and balance of topics, are taken into account
How are the Featured Topics
articles selected?
• The "featured topics" section includes
influential articles selected on a rotating basis
by CDC subject matter experts
• Twice a month, topics are coordinated with
Vital Signs or Public Health Grand Rounds
– www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns
– www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds
How Are the References Selected for
Science Clips Features that Align with
CDC Vital Signs?
• All Vital Signs products and information are
based on a scientific article simultaneously
published in the MMWR
• The references for listing in Science Clips are
chosen based on relevance for a clinical and
public health audience
• The final list of citations, along with access to
full text content or abstracts, is posted on the
Science Clips website at the same time as
the MMWR article
Why Is My Article Is Not Listed in
Science Clips?
• The most common reason is that it has not
been indexed in Medline yet
• This process can take a month or more, and
typically lags considerably behind earliest
availability of articles that are posted “online
first” or as uncorrected proofs
Does Science Clips Produce
Special Issues?
• Past special issues and supplements have
included:
• 2010: American Indian/Alaskan Native
health issues
• 2011: The Guide to Community Preventive
Services reviews assessing the effectiveness
of limiting the days/hours of alcohol sales for
preventing excessive alcohol consumption
• 2012: Pediatric Injury Prevention
International Usage of Science Clips
Top ten countries viewing Science Clips,
January 2010-July 20, 2011
Country
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United States
Canada
United Kingdom
India
Brazil
Australia
Japan
Italy
Germany
Iran
Source: CDC unpublished data
Page Views
33,583
1,374
747
694
401
367
345
328
313
297
Percentage
of Total
Views
74.9%
3.1%
1.7%
1.5%
0.9%
0.8%
0.8%
0.7%
0.7%
0.7%
Concluding Thoughts:
Why Publications and Access Matter
• Showcases important work done locally or
regionally for the benefit of policymakers,
colleagues, new staff
• In public health, publications should benefit
“the common good”
• Knowing a field through awareness of the
literature can create opportunities for
collaboration, professional growth, and career
development
CDC Science Clips Production Staff
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John Iskander, MD MPH, Editor
Rebecca Satterthwaite, MS, Librarian
Gail Bang, MLIS, Librarian
Deidre Thomas, MLS, Librarian
Kathleen Connick, MSLS, Librarian
Barbara Landreth, MLS, Librarian
Joseph Dunlap, Web Developer
Joe Bryce, Web Developer
Acknowledgments
• LCDR Robert Swain, USPHS
• Special thanks to CDC Director Dr. Thomas
Frieden, who suggested the development of
Science Clips, and to the late Jocelyn Rankin,
PhD, who helped build the foundation for
Science Clips*
*
Popovic T. In memoriam: Jocelyn Anne Rankin (1946–2010). Emerg Infect Dis. 2010
Dec. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/12/2023.htm
Additional Resources
• Website: www.cdc.gov/scienceclips
• Email: scienceclips@cdc.gov
• Subscription to topic-specific RSS (really simple
syndication) feeds:
www.cdc.gov/phlic/sciclips/topics/TopicNav.html
• For customer service support, contact:
– CDC Public Health Library and Information Center
(PHLIC) at 404-639-1717
• Peer-reviewed CDC journals and publications
www.cdc.gov/Publications/