Background: One of the roles of Cochrane Centres and Branches is to search for randomized controlled trials for inclusion in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). We undertook a pilot handsearch project at the Nigerian Branch of the South African Cochrane Centre with the following objectives. Objectives: 1) To compile a comprehensive list of the biomedical and health journals in Nigeria; and 2) to identify trials published in Nigerian journals not indexed in any major electronic database. Methods: Interviews and visits to medical libraries and relevant departments in University Teaching Hospitals, medical faculties, professional associations and a publishing house to search for biomedical and health journals (the search is ongoing). Compilation of comprehensive list of Nigerian journals from handsearch output, search of electronic databases (MEDLINE, African Index Medicus, Bioline and Index Copernicus), and a list generated from an earlier search by the South African Cochrane Centre. Results: There were a total of 75 biomedical journals. Twenty-two were not indexed. A pilot search of one of the non-indexed journals, the Nigerian Journal of Medical Rehabilitation (formerly the Journal of the Nigerian Medical Rehabilitation Therapists) published twice yearly by Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board of Nigeria, yielded the following results: six issues containing 49 articles were handsearched and yielded four trials (two RCTs and two CCTs). Conclusion: We recommend that handsearching be encouraged in low-income countries where poor access to electronic/internet services may limit the ability of biomedical journal publishers to achieve indexing.