Librarian Tip: Use Boolean Operators as you would in any other database to search more efficiently. Combining terms? You don't need another search box, just use parentheses to search appropriately. For example: hospitalization AND (atrophy OR "muscle mass")
This is an interface which provides searches - Structured Evidence Queries (SEQs) - that retrieve citations within PubMed to published literature on specific topics. If the links in the table don't automatically take you to the topic, you can search the listings in the MeSH dropdown to apply them to your PubMed search.
MeSH is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary that are used to index articles. MeSH offers a uniform and consistent way for the literature to be organized as being about a specific subject and therefore allows you to search with precision, pulling together articles on those concepts.
Using the MeSH browser feature of PubMed helps you to translate your term into the vocabulary of the database before you even begin your search. For example, the entry term: "aids" gets translated to Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [MeSH]
To learn more about MeSH go to the Fact Sheet at NIH and/or watch this video:
It is also worth noting that MeSH terms can be found within a PubMed record, towards the bottom of the page. This is a great way to find other synonyms to use or a MeSH term to revise your search with.
Librarian Tip: It takes time to apply MeSH terms to articles, so keep in mind when you run a search for a MeSH term the very latest articles might not appear in the results. Need an article from this month? Try searching the MeSH term but as a keyword.
Setting up a MyNCBI account allows you to:
Keep track of the research you have done, including filters applied, by saving your search. Watch the screen cast below for details.
Filters can be used to narrow down your search to the specific dates, article type, or population that you are researching. Find filters next to your search results in PubMed.
Click on Customize to see more options for that filter.
Click Show additional filters to see other options, like age and sex.
