Arrival at the Library
How to get to the Library?
The Central Medical Library (CML) is located within the main building of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine at Šalata 3b (ground floor).
Its branch location is the University Hospital Centre Medical Library (so-called Rebro Medical Library) situated at the University Hospital Center Zagreb at Kišpatićeva 12 (Education Center West).
What are the Library's opening hours?
Central Medical Library
University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Šalata 3b (ground floor), Zagreb
Monday – Thursday: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
University Hospital Centre Medical Library (Rebro Medical Library)
University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kišpatićeva 12 (Education Center West), Zagreb
Monday – Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
Who can use the Library and its reading rooms?
The Central Medical Library’s facilities and resources are available to all its members: students from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine enrolled in all levels of study programs, employees of the School of Medicine and the Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb, students from the University of Zagreb School of Dental Medicine, as well as physicians and scientists from other institutions. Library membership is obtained through registration in the Library database. Users’ rights and obligations are defined in the CML Rules and Regulations.
What technical facilities are available in the reading rooms?
Users of the Central Medical Library have access to two reading rooms with 100 study seats. The CML provides an extensive collection containing textbooks and handbooks, monographs etc., and a collection of print periodicals. The Wi-Fi network is available via Eduroam and the connection is possible using the AAI@EduHr electronic identity. Detailed instructions on configuring your device are available in the Tutorials section, or on the Eduroam website.
Users of the University Hospital Centre Medical Library have access to a reading room with 20 study seats and 5 PCs. The Library provides a collection of various textbooks, clinical manuals and print periodicals.
Borrowing books
How to search the Library catalog?
By searching the Central Medical Library Catalog, you can gain insight into the collections and materials of the Central Medical Library and the Rebro Medical Library. The catalog contains information about the printed materials such as books, journals, dissertations defended at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, etc.
Select the category you want to search in the "Tražite po (Search by)" field and enter a specific term/keyword in the "Unesite pojam (Enter term)" field. For example, you can search by the author's last name ("autor" category), the first word in the title of a book/journal ("naslov" category), or any word from a title ("riječi iz naslova" category).
Who can borrow a book? How to borrow a book?
Book borrowing is available to students from all study programs at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine and to students of the integrated undergraduate and graduate program in dental medicine at the University of Zagreb School of Dental Medicine. Other library users can use library materials only within the reading room. More information about borrowing rules can be found in the Borrowing books section.
How to renew loans?
The book loan period can be extended independently through the user profile in the library's online catalog, but no later than on the due date. In the case of a delay of up to two days, an extension of the loan period can be requested via email at smk@mef.hr or in person at the Library. More information about loan periods and returning materials can be found in the Borrowing books section.
Finding literature
How to find literature (journal articles, books, book chapters, etc.)?
The necessary information and resources can be searched and browsed in several ways: through library catalogs that provide information about what the library holds (usually in printed format), by searching for information on the internet (while making sure to choose quality information sources), searching bibliographic databases that provide information on works published in journals and other sources, browsing repositories and other digital archives that store full texts, etc. For more information on the types of literature sources, check the Resources section.
Where to find free full-text articles?
The term "free full-texts" refers to literature (e.g., journal articles, book chapters, etc.) whose complete text can be accessed for free. Some recommended free resources can be found in the E-journals, E-books section.
How to access licensed e-resources?
Licensed (or subscribed) resources refer to literature provided by commercial companies for which a subscription fee is required.
The Croatian academic and scientific community secures subscribed resources through the national consortium, and detailed information on current subscriptions is available on the Portal of Electronic Resources for the Academic and Scientific Community.
The School of Medicine, as well as the University of Zagreb, subscribe to additional sources for their students and employees. Access rules for such resources are specifically regulated: access is granted automatically via computers within institutions (institution's IP network), or through remote access. Instructions for remote access can be found in the FAQs under "Remote access to licensed resources".
Lists of licensed resources and additional access instructions can be found in the E-journals, e-books section.
Thematic search
What is a thematic literature search?
Thematic search is a literature search related to a specific topic according to one's interest. Every search requires the development of a search strategy, including the selection of terms that best describe the research problem. Free-text keywords and subject headings from specialized dictionaries (controlled vocabularies) can be used. When searching for medical resources, terms from the Medical Subject Headings dictionary are used.
In addition to subject terms, it is important to specify other categories that will help in specifying the search, such as sources types, publication types, publication time frame, the language of publication, and more. The more elements are determined in advance, the more specific the search results will be, hence best addressing the information query.
For more information on thematic and other specific types of literature searching, check the Database searching section.
In which databases can we conduct thematic searches?
The recommended source for thematic literature search in the field of biomedicine and healthcare is the medical information retrieval system and search engine PubMed. Searching can also be performed in bibliographic databases such as general databases Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus.
How to request a thematic search?
A request for assistance with literature search can be made through the Central Medical Library’s Ask a librarian form. It is necessary to specify the purpose of the search, the topic, and the type of work you intend to publish. For more information on thematic and other specific types of literature searching, check the Database searching section.
Remote access to licensed resources
How to gain remote access to the ClinicalKey database subscribed by the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb?
ClinicalKey is a clinical search engine and database that includes more than 1000 books, 650 journals, as well as numerous multimedia materials and other content. It can be accessed automatically from computers connected to the School of Medicine's network. ClinicalKey can also be used even when you are not on your institution's network, but you need to register with ClinicalKey (using your @mef.hr or @student.mef.hr email address) and activate the Remote Access feature. Detailed instructions are available in the Tutorials section.
How to gain remote access to databases and e-resources available to members of the Croatian scientific community (subscribed through the national consortium)?
Remote access to licensed resources is provided through the Portal of Electronic Resources for the Academic and Scientific Community using the Proxy server option. Proxy access is available to all members of the Croatian academic and scientific community who have an AAI@EduHr user account. More information regarding this type of access can be found on the Portal's website.
Remote access to some of the licensed resources can also be achieved by creating your user account within a specific database (we recommend using the @mef.hr or @student.mef.hr email address) or by logging in with AAI@EduHr user data (Institutional or Shibboleth login).
Request for full-text articles
How to order a copy of a journal article or book chapter using the international interlibrary loan service?
If you cannot find the full-text of a journal article or a book chapter in freely available and/or subscribed resources (see the Resources section), you can order it through the interlibrary loan service (see Article delivery section). The reference (citation) of the requested article needs to be sent to the email address tomislav.matic@mef.hr.
Depending on availability, this service is sometimes free (RapidILL service) and sometimes requires payment (Subito service). If the material is only available for a fee, the librarian will ask for your approval before ordering and provide you with payment instructions according to the School of Medicine's service price list.
Citing sources (citations and references)
How to format citations and references?
The commonly used citation style for writing graduate theses, postgraduate specialist theses, and doctoral theses at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine is the Vancouver style. As an instruction and aid in proper referencing and citing, we recommend the Kako citirati? guide ("How to cite", Croatian version only) prepared by the Central Medical Library. There are many citation styles, and some of the most well-known include the Harvard style, Oxford style, APA, AMA, MLA, the aforementioned Vancouver style, etc. Each citation style has its own rules and principles, and authors must ensure they adhere to the style required, for example, by the journal in which they intend to publish their article or by the institution where they are studying.
What is copyright? How to fairly use other people's work?
Copyright is a set of legal rights that creators (authors) have over their literary and artistic works. The author has exclusive rights over use and distribution of their works, and others can use them only with permission. In the context of scientific research and education, the use of other people's works is allowed in exceptional situations. This includes, for example, paraphrasing and quoting, but it is mandatory to provide a complete citation of used works and sources. The use of other people's ideas and works without citing the source is considered plagiarism and a breach of academic integrity.
Publication
How to choose a journal for publication?
When selecting a journal for publishing your paper, it's important to consider its thematic scope and quality. Some characteristics that demonstrate quality include high editorial standards, the reputation of the editorial board and publisher, transparency in the peer-review process, strict adherence to ethical practices, journal indexing in databases, the quality of the journal's website, etc. The Central Medical Library offers support for choosing a journal, and some of the recommendations and tools can be found in the Publishing support section (under "How to choose the right journal for your paper").
What is a preprint?
A preprint is defined as a version of a scientific or professional paper intended for publication in a scientific journal that has not yet undergone the formal review process. It is a pre-peer review version of the manuscript.
Why and how to store your work in the institutional repository?
An institutional repository is a digital collection and archive that gathers, permanently stores and provides open access to works that are the result of the intellectual and creative work of an institution’s employees and students. The main benefits of storing works in a repository are increased author's professional visibility, increased readership and citations of the work, and its long-term preservation.
If you are an employee and/or student at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, and you want to store your work in the Dr Med repository, or have other questions related to the repository, please contact the Central Medical Library at the email address smk@mef.hr.
Research data management
Where to store research data and data management plans?
Research data and data management plans can be stored in institutional repositories and other online archives. Employees of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine can store them in their institution's repository Dr Med.
For more details on research data and data management plans, please refer to the Research data management section.
Bibliometric services
What is indexing in bibliographic databases?
The term "journal indexing" refers to the inclusion of a particular journal (and/or paper) in a bibliographic database. The number of database-indexed papers is determined in well-known databases such as Web of Science Core Collection, Current Contents Connect, Scopus, MEDLINE, and others.
It's important to note that indexing in databases is verified for each paper individually. Therefore, even if a journal is indexed in a database, it is possible that a specific paper from that journal may not be included, and thus cannot be used, for example, in the evaluation of scientific productivity of, for example, scientists, research groups, institutions etc.
What is citation analysis?
Citation analysis is used as a measure when evaluating scientific productivity. It refers to the number of times a specific paper indexed in a bibliographic database has been cited by other articles. The number of citations is verified in citation databases like Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus.
How to request a certificate?
The Central Medical Library offers bibliometric analysis services and provides certificates of indexing and number of citations of papers included in international bibliographic databases. Requests for certificates can be sent to the email address dina.vrkic@mef.hr or submitted in person to the Central Medical Library. The request must specify the purpose of the certificate and provide a chronological list of published papers.
Detailed information about bibliometric services, who can request them, how to request certificates, and more can be found in the Bibliometric services and certificates section.
Open access and open science
What is open access?
Open Access (OA) is free and unrestricted online access to digital scientific publications and other information sources. OA advocates reading, storing, distributing, searching and other practices of using these resources, while respecting author’s copyright.
Authors can immediately make their papers OA by publishing them in an OA journals. They can also be deposited in repositories or other online archives, subsequently after being published in journals and other types of publications. Institutional repositories are the best-known tools for promoting open access (e.g., the Dr Med repository).
What is open science?
Open Science represents joint collaboration and coordination of work and shared resources within the entire scientific community. It introduces a new approach to conducting research in which all its elements become immediately available through the use of modern digital technologies and collaborative tools. An important element of open science is involving the public (both amateur and professional) in all phases of the research process.