1. Boolean Operators in PubMed: These are essential to know for effective searching.
- AND: Using “AND” between terms narrows your search as it links terms together. For example, “dogs AND cats” will return articles that contain both terms.
- OR: Using “OR” between terms broadens your search as it will retrieve articles that contain either term. For example, “dogs OR cats” will return articles that mention either dogs or cats.
- NOT: Using “NOT” excludes specific terms from your search. For example, “animals NOT dogs” will return articles about animals that do not include the term “dogs”.
2. MeSH (Medical Subject Headings): These are standard terms used in PubMed to categorize articles based on their content. By using MeSH terms, you can more effectively find articles related to your topic. MeSH terms also account for synonyms and related terms.
3. Field Tags: These allow you to specify in which part of the citation record you want to search. For example, [au] will search the author field, [tiab] searches the title and abstract fields, etc.
4. Phrase Searching: If you know the exact phrase you want to find in the database, you can use quotation marks to search for that exact phrase.
5. Author Search: Use the author’s last name and initials with the author field tag [au]. For example, if you want articles authored by John Smith, you would search “Smith J[au]”.
6. Filters in PubMed: Filters allow you to limit your search results by certain aspects such as article type, text availability, publication date, species, gender, age, etc.
7. My NCBI: This is a tool that allows PubMed users to save their search strategies, set up automatic email alerts for new articles matching their search criteria, and customize their search result display format. It’s a very useful tool for keeping up-to-date with new literature in your field of interest.
8. Advanced Search: Advanced search allows you to combine search terms and apply filters for a more targeted search. This is particularly useful when you are conducting a complex search or when you want to narrow down your search results.
Remember, the key to a successful search in PubMed is to understand how to use these tools effectively. Combining Boolean operators with MeSH terms, field tags, and filters can greatly enhance your search and help you find the most relevant articles for your research.
1. Major MeSH terms [majr]: This tag is used to restrict your search to articles where your MeSH term is considered a “major” topic of the article. For example, “asthma[majr]” will find articles where asthma is a major focus, not just mentioned incidentally.
2. Wildcard searching (*): The asterisk () is a wildcard symbol that can replace zero or more characters in your search term. This can be helpful if you’re uncertain of a term’s exact spelling or if you want to search for multiple forms of a word simultaneously. For example, “cardiolog” would search for ‘cardiology’, ‘cardiologist’, ‘cardiologists’, etc.
3. MeSH “no explosion” [mh:noexp]: Normally, a MeSH term will “explode” to include more specific terms in its hierarchy. Using [mh:noexp] will restrict the search to the exact term, without including any more specific terms.
4. NOT operator with MeSH terms: Using NOT with a MeSH term (e.g. “breast[mh]”) will exclude any articles that are indexed with that MeSH term.
5. First Author search [1AU]: If you want to restrict your search to articles where a particular author is listed first, you can use the [1AU] tag. For example, “Smith J”[1AU] will find articles where John Smith is the first author.
6. Default Field Search: If no field tag is specified, PubMed will automatically search all fields. This includes the title, abstract, author fields, and more.
7. Explode in MeSH: Using a MeSH term in a search will automatically “explode” to include the more specific terms in its hierarchy. This helps to make sure you’re capturing all relevant articles.
8. MeSH vs. Major MeSH terms [mesh] vs [majr]: The [mesh] tag will search for articles where your term is a MeSH term, regardless of whether it’s a major topic. The [majr] tag will restrict your search to articles where your term is considered a major topic.
9. Automatic Term Mapping: This is a feature where PubMed will try to match your search terms to MeSH terms, journal titles, and author names. It can be less precise when you’re searching for specific phrases.
10. Publication Type [ptyp] or [PT]: This tag allows you to restrict your search to articles of a certain publication type, such as reviews, clinical trials, or case reports.
These advanced techniques will allow you to construct more targeted and efficient searches in PubMed, saving you time and ensuring that you’re finding the most relevant articles for your research.
1. Searching for two topics simultaneously [MeSH]: When researching the effects of physical therapy on a specific condition, such as stroke or back pain, you will want to use the MeSH term for both the condition and “Physical Therapy Modalities”. This ensures your search is capturing articles that discuss both topics.
2. Systematic Reviews [pt]: If you’re looking for systematic reviews, you should include “Review[pt]” in your search. This tags filters the search to articles that are identified as systematic reviews.
3. Specific MeSH terms: Some topics have specific MeSH terms. For instance, “hip replacement surgery” is covered under “Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip[MeSH]”. Using the exact MeSH term will yield more precise results.
4. Excluding Animal Studies [mh:noexp]: When you’re interested in studies conducted in humans, you can use “NOT Animals[mh:noexp]” to exclude animal studies. This is crucial for searches involving treatment modalities like physical therapy, where you’re interested in human subjects.
5. Searching for recent articles [dp]: If you want to find recent articles, you can use the date published field tag [dp]. For example, “last 3 years”[dp] will return articles published within the last 3 years.
6. Comparing Two Treatments [MeSH]: If you’re comparing two treatments (e.g., physical therapy vs. surgery), use the MeSH terms for both treatments in your search. This will yield articles that discuss and possibly compare both treatments.
7. Age-specific MeSH terms: Certain age groups have specific MeSH terms. For example, the term for elderly is “Aged[MeSH]”. Using these specific terms can help to narrow your search to more relevant articles.
8. Broad topics [MeSH]: For broad topics like “sports injuries,” it’s better to use a MeSH term such as “Sports Injuries[MeSH]”. This will include all types of sports injuries in the search, rather than just those that happen to mention the specific term “sports injuries.”
9. Specific Conditions [MeSH]: When researching specific conditions like Parkinson’s disease, use the specific MeSH term (“Parkinson Disease[MeSH]”) to ensure your search is as accurate as possible.
10. Searching for a specific type of study [pt]: If you’re looking for a specific type of study, like a clinical trial, use the publication type tag [pt]. For example, “Clinical Trial[pt]” will restrict your search to articles that are clinical trials.
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1. Searching for Specific Study Types [pt]: When you’re looking for a specific type of study (e.g., randomized controlled trials, meta-analysis), include the appropriate tag in your search (e.g., Randomized Controlled Trial[pt], Meta-Analysis[pt]). This tag limits the search to the specific type of study.
2. Searching within a Specific Date Range [dp]: Use the date published tag to limit your search to articles published within a specific time range (e.g., “last 2 years”[dp] for articles published in the past two years).
3. Excluding Specific Study Types [pt]: If you want to exclude certain types of studies (e.g., case reports), include the NOT operator before the publication type tag (e.g., NOT Case Reports[pt]).
4. Using Major Topic Headings [majr]: If you want to restrict your search to articles where a specific concept is a major focus, use the [majr] tag (e.g., “Adolescent”[majr] for articles where adolescence is a major topic).
5. Excluding Non-Human Studies [mh:noexp]: To exclude non-human studies from your search, use the NOT operator before the Animals MeSH term (e.g., NOT Animals[mh:noexp]).
6. Searching for Articles in a Specific Language [la]: If you want to limit your search to articles written in a specific language, use the language tag [la] (e.g., English[la] for articles written in English).
7. Peer-Reviewed Journals [pt]: If you’re specifically looking for articles from peer-reviewed journals, include the tag Journals, Peer-Review[pt] in your search.
These concepts will help you to conduct advanced searches in PubMed, tailoring your search strategy to meet specific needs and requirements.
Examples
- Boolean Operators:
- AND: “diabetes AND obesity” will find articles that discuss both diabetes and obesity.
- OR: “children OR adolescents” will retrieve articles that discuss either children or adolescents.
- NOT: “heart diseases NOT smoking” will find articles discussing heart diseases that do not include smoking.
- MeSH: “Hypertension[MeSH]” will find articles that discuss hypertension using the standardized MeSH term.
- Field Tags: “Smith[au]” will search for articles written by authors with the last name Smith.
- Phrase Searching: Searching for “breast cancer” in quotes will find articles containing that exact phrase.
- Author Search: “Doe J[au]” will find articles authored by someone with the last name Doe and initial J.
- Filters: Applying a filter such as “Review[pt]” will limit search results to review articles.
- My NCBI: Here, you can set a saved search like “neurological disorders”, then set an alert to be notified when new articles on this topic are published.
- Advanced Search: Combine terms and filters like “hypertension AND exercise AND elderly[MeSH]” for a more targeted search.
- Major MeSH terms: “asthma[majr]” will find articles where asthma is a major focus of the discussion.
- Wildcard searching: “cardiolog*” will find articles related to ‘cardiology’, ‘cardiologist’, ‘cardiologists’, etc.
- MeSH “no explosion”: “Diseases[mh:noexp]” will restrict the search to the general term “diseases” and not include any specific diseases in the results.
- NOT operator with MeSH terms: “Diseases NOT heart diseases[mh]” will exclude heart diseases from the results.
- First Author search: “Doe J[1AU]” will retrieve articles where John Doe is the first author.
- Default Field Search: “diabetes” will search diabetes in all fields including the title, abstract, author fields, and more.
- Explode in MeSH: Searching for “Neoplasms[MeSH]” will also include more specific types of neoplasms in the results.
- Automatic Term Mapping: If you search “cardiovascular diseases”, PubMed will attempt to match this phrase to relevant MeSH terms, journal titles, and author names.
- Publication Type: “Clinical Trial[pt]” will restrict your search to clinical trials.
- Two Topics Simultaneously: “Stroke[MeSH] AND Physical Therapy Modalities[MeSH]” will find articles discussing both stroke and physical therapy.
- Systematic Reviews: “Stroke AND Review[pt]” will find systematic reviews on the topic of stroke.
- Specific MeSH terms: “Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip[MeSH]” will find articles specifically on hip replacement surgery.
- Excluding Animal Studies: “Diabetes Therapy NOT Animals[mh:noexp]” will exclude animal studies from the results.
- Searching for recent articles: “Cancer Immunotherapy AND last 5 years[dp]” will return articles from the past five years.
- Comparing Two Treatments: “Chemotherapy[MeSH] AND Radiotherapy[MeSH]” will yield articles discussing both treatments.
- Age-specific MeSH terms: “Stroke AND Aged[MeSH]” will narrow down your search to articles about strokes in elderly patients.
- Broad topics: “Sports Injuries[MeSH]” will include all types of sports injuries in the search.
- Searching for Specific Study Types: “Randomized Controlled Trial[pt]” will restrict your search to randomized controlled trials.
- Searching within a Specific Date Range: “last 2 years”[dp] will find articles published within the past two years.
- Excluding Specific Study Types: “NOT Case Reports[pt]” will exclude case reports from your search results.
- Using Major Topic Headings: “Adolescent”[majr] will restrict your search to articles where adolescence is a major topic.
- Excluding Non-Human Studies: “NOT Animals[mh:noexp]” will exclude animal studies from your search.
- Searching for Articles in a Specific Language: “English[la]” will restrict your search to English language articles.
- Peer-Reviewed Journals: “Journals, Peer-Review[pt]” will limit your search to peer-reviewed journals.
