PubMed at the UW

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PubMed provides access to bibliographic citations to biomedical journal articles, including MEDLINE back to the 1940's, and to additional life sciences journals. Updated 5 times/week.

To efficiently search PubMed, click on the Advanced Search link at the top of the PubMed home page.

Basic Search Techniques

Step 1: Enter Your Terms

Type any key word or phrase into the search box. 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 search box and click on Search. PubMed automatically "ANDs" (combines) terms together so that all terms or concepts are present, and it translates your words into MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms.
For an Author Search: Enter the author's name in the format of last name first followed by initials (e.g., byrnes ca) in either the Search box or the Search by Author section.
For a Journal Search: To retrieve articles from a specific journal, type the name of the journal in the Journal drop-down box in the Search by Author, Journal... section. If you do not know the full journal title, you can use the Journals database or Single Citation Matcher features linked at the bottom of the Advanced Search screen.

Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to combine topics in the Search box. Boolean operators should be entered in UPPERCASE and are processed from left to right. Change the order by using parentheses. Example: osteoporosis AND (drug therapy OR exercise) If desired use the multiple search boxes in the Search by Author, Journal, Publication Date, and more section.

Step 2: Set Your Limits

Sample Limits image

Scroll to the Limit section of the Advanced Screen page. 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 Search Button to Run Your Search

Step 4: View Your Results

Sample Results image

On the right side of the screen you see the Limits Activated for your search and a Filter delineating UW Online results, indicating the number of articles available electronically through the UW Libraries. Click on the link to move to that set. The Manage Filters link takes you to My NCBI, your personal space in PubMed where you can configure your 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 Abstract view. You can change the display for all or selected citations by selecting a new display format from the Display Settings link.

Summary format: Short bibliographic citation.
Abstract format: Bibliographic citation plus abstract of the article and the first 5 Related Articles. Use also for links to full text.
MEDLINE format: Full citation tagged with field labels. Use for importing into bibliographic citation programs such as EndNote and RefWorks.

After displaying your search results, view single records by clicking on the title of the article or mark a set of references by clicking on the boxes to the left of each citation. Click on the Display Settings link to increase the number of citations per page (up to 200) or sort the order of the citations displayed, e.g., by journal title instead of date.

Use the Send To link 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 Full Text, Print, Save, or Email Your Citation List or Order Articles

Links to Full text Documents: Display references (either all of them or the marked citations) in Abstract 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.

Example Full Text image

If no UW Article Online button appears, click the Check for UW Holdings button to see if the journal is owned by UW Libraries. You can also go to the HealthLinks Journals page to search by journal title abbreviation and determine if it is available electronically.

Print: Using the Display Settings link, select the format of the references, place all your references on one web page, and click Apply. Use your browser's Print command.

Save: From the Send To link, select File, choose Format and Sort order, and click the Create file button. When prompted by the operating system, provide a name and appropriate extension for your file.

Email: From the Send To link, select Email, choose Format and Sort order, add email information, and click the Email button.

Order articles: From the Send To link, select Order, and click on the Order button. 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. NOTE: Fees waived for interlibrary loans and scanned copies of journal articles to current UW students, faculty and staff with Desktop Article Delivery Pilot Project extended through June 2010.

Step 6: Document Your Strategy

Go to the Search History section on the Advanced Search screen. Either print the screen(s) using your browser or to avoid copying the entire Advanced Search screen, copy and paste the Search History into a document for future reference.

Refining or Improving Your Search

Clinical Queries Search: Link found at the bottom of the Advanced Search screen. Uses filters to limit retrieval to systematic reviews or research-based citations on clinical topics.
Clipboard: Acts as a temporary holding file for all citations collected during your online session. Select desired citations and use the Send to link to save to Clipboard. Click on the Clipboard link on the right side of the Results page to retrieve all citations on your Clipboard.
Help: Help links are found at the top of all PubMed screens. Consult with library staff or use one of the Related Links listed below.
History: Found on the Advanced Search screen, Search 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.
MeSH Database: Link found at the bottom of the Advanced Search screen. Allows you to select specific MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) and subheadings to focus your search.
My NCBI: Link found at the top right blue bar on every PubMed screen. Provides a space to save search strategies, save citations, and create email alerts. Free registration required. For more information on using My NCBI see the PubMed: My NCBI page.
Related Articles: Related articles, citations closely related to the original citation, are available in the Abstract format. These citations are displayed by relevancy and may be reviewed and added to the clipboard, saved or printed.
Single Citation Matcher: Link found at the bottom of the Advanced Search screen. Lets you fill in known pieces of information about a specific reference in order to retrieve the full citation.