PubMed at the UW

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PubMed provides access to bibliographic citations to biomedical journal articles, which include MEDLINE back to the 1950s, and to additional life sciences journals. Updated daily.

Basic Search Techniques

Step 1: Enter Your Terms

Type any key word or phrase into the search box as shown in the image. Use an asterisk (*) to retrieve variations on a word, e.g., bacter* retrieves bacteria, bacterium, bacteriophage, etc.

• For a Subject Search: Enter one or more words (e.g., asthma drug therapy) in the query box and click on Go. PubMed automatically "ANDs" (combines) terms together so that all terms or concepts are present, and it translates your words into MeSH terms.
• For an Author Search: Enter the author's name in the format of last name first followed by initials (e.g., byrnes ca).
• For a Journal Search: To retrieve articles from a specific journal use PubMed's Journals Database or Single Citation Matcher features (available from the left hand navigation bar on PubMed's search screen).

Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to combine topics in the search box if desired. Note: Boolean operators should be entered in UPPERCASE and are processed from left to right. Change the order by using parentheses.

Step 2: Set Your Limits

Click on 'Limits' on the Feature tabs as shown in the image. Choose the restrictions for your search, e.g. a specific language, article type, date, or subset of PubMed, e.g. nursing journals, cancer or bioethics.

Note: Limits remain in place until you change or remove them. Limits other than language or date will exclude NEW records that are "in process" or "supplied by Publisher."

Step 3: Click on the Go Button to Run Your Search

Step 4: View Your Results

Two results filters tabs are displayed: the 'All' tab tells you the total number of citations retrieved; the UW Availability tab indicates the number of articles available electronically or in print through the UW Libraries. Click on the tab to move to that set. The tools icon to the right of the UW Availability tab takes you to My NCBI, your personal space in PubMed, where you can configure up to five results filters.

PubMed citations are displayed in "Summary" format, 20 at a time, "last in, first out", except results that retrieve a single citation which will display the AbstractPlus view. You can change the display for all or selected citations by selecting a new display format from the Display pull-down menu.

Summary format

Short bibliographic citation

AbstractPlus format

Bibliographic citation plus abstract of the article and the first 5 Related Articles. Use also for links to full-text.

Abstract format

Bibliographic citation plus abstract of the article. Use also for links to full-text.

Citation format

Abstract format plus MeSH terms

MEDLINE format

Full citation tagged with field labels. Use for importing into bibliographic citation programs such as EndNote.

After displaying your search results, view single records by clicking on the author name or mark a set of references by clicking on the boxes to the left of each citation. To increase the number of citations per page (up to 500) use the Show pull-down menu on the action bar. Change the order of the citations displayed, e.g. by journal title instead of date, by selecting from the Sort pull-down menu.

Use the Send To pull-down menu to place citations on the clipboard, if desired, for later review. Otherwise, follow the steps below to see full text, print, save, or email your list or order articles.

Step 5: Connect to Fulltext, Print, Save, or Email Your Citation List or Order Articles

Links to Fulltext Documents: Display references (either all of them or the marked citations) in Abstract, AbstractPlus or Citation format. If the UW Article Online button appears (see below), click on it. It will lead you to the full text. If you are asked for a password, go to the HealthLinks Journals page and use the Get Passwords link.

If no UW Article Online button appears, go to the HealthLinks Journals page to search by journal title abbreviation and determine if it is available electronically.

The UW in the Library button indicates the journal is owned by UW Libraries. Click on the button to check holdings.

• Print: Select the format of the references using the Display button's pull-down menu. Place all your references on one web page using the Show pull-down menu. Select Printer from the Send To pull-down menu and click on the Send To button. Click the Print This Page button from the popup window. Note: You need to allow popups in your browser for the Printer option to work.
• Save: Select the format of the references using the Display button's pull-down menu. Place all your references on one web page using the Show pull-down menu. Select File from the Send To pull-down menu and click on the Send To button. When prompted by the operating system, provide a name and appropriate extension for your file.
• Email: Select E-mail from the Send To pull-down menu and click on the Send To button. Select or fill in the options for format of the references, items to be sent, and email address. Note: If you use Pine or WebPine to read your email, select the text version. If you select HTML format you will be able to view and use the links to full-text of the journal articles and related articles ifyour email is configured to read HTML.
• Order articles: Use the pull-down menu of the Send To button to select Order and click it. This will connect you to the Loansome Doc Service to order copies of journal articles for a fee. Registration is required to use Loansome Doc services.

Step 6: Document Your Strategy

Click on the History button located on the features bar just under the search box. Either print the screen(s) using your browser or copy and paste text into a document for future reference.

Refining or Improving Your Search

Related Articles

Clicking on the 'related articles' link to the right of a citation will retrieve closely related citations. These citations are displayed by relevancy and may be reviewed and added to the clipboard, saved or printed.

Clipboard

Acts as a temporary holding file for all citations collected during your online session. You may review, print, or save from here instead of the display if you wish.

History

Holds your search strategies and results from your current search session. You may combine previous searches or add additional terms to an existing search by using the pound sign (#) before the search number, e.g., #2 AND #6 or #3 AND drug therapy in the search box.

Single Citation Matcher

Lets you fill in known pieces of information about a specific reference in order to retrieve the full citation.

Clinical Queries Search

Uses filters to limit retrieval to systematic reviews or research-based citiations on clinical topics.

MeSH Database

Allows you to select specific subject headings and subheadings to focus your search.

My NCBI

Provides a space to save and update up to 100 searches. For more information on using My NCBI see the PubMed: My NCBI page.

Additional Help

Use the side bar on left side of the PubMed screen to access special Help screens. Consult with library staff or use one of the Related Links listed below.