Comprehensive database of drug discrimination research

Stolerman, Ian

Abstract

Comprehensive Database of Drug Discrimination Research This project will provide an exhaustive and fully indexed bibliographic list of all published works in which drugs function as discriminative stimuli (cues). The drug discrimination technique is one of the most widely used behavioral approaches in psychopharmacology. The research adds to knowledge of the effects, modes of action and abuse liability of psychoactive drugs, and it constitutes a vital standard method used in efforts to develop new agents for use in psychiatry including, but not limited too, treatments for drug abuse. A detailed keyword system specific to drug discrimination research is a unique feature of this service. New entries for the database will be drawn from published literature and they will be indexed with a list of standardized keywords. Original research articles, review papers, books, book chapters and abstracts (when published in archival form) will be included. The database will be updated frequently and it will be easily available to all research workers and to other suitable persons or organizations. It will be disseminated primarily via the internet; users will access the database site on a web site to carry out on-line searches, to download the entire database, or to receive comprehensive bibliographies in formats for various journals. Download files will be offered in a variety of formats for different software and computer systems. The website will be redesigned to provide faster and more comprehensive search facilities. The database will also be distributed on request on computer disks. The database is a continuation of an existing project utilizing tried and tested methods. There will be no other way to gain access to the drug discrimination literature that will be as comprehensive or that will allow an equal degree of precision for selective searching. The database now covers years 1951-2000 (3,314 citations); from the recent rate of growth, it is estimated this will increase to over 4,300 in the next five years.