Module 4: Literature Search Strategy

Here are some tips to help you make the most out of your PubMed searches:

• Use the basic search box on the homepage for a simple search with only two or three keywords.
• Use the advanced search option for a complex search:
  1. Enter search terms for the first concept (combining terms with Boolean OR) in the default search field – “All fields” to include word variations and controlled vocabulary automatically. Then click “Search”.
  2. Repeat these steps for each subsequent concept, replacing the search terms accordingly.
  3. After searching all the concepts, go to the “History and Search Details” section. You will see all the searches you’ve done.
  4. Combine searches for different concepts. On Search #1 line, click the three dots under “Actions” and select “Add with AND” to add the first query in the query box. Then click the three dots under “Actions” on Search #2 line and select “Add with AND” to add the second search. Repeat this step to add other searches. After adding all the searches, then click “Search” to view the combined search result.
• Phrase Searching. Use double quotation marks to search for a specific phrase.
• Wildcard search. To search for all terms that begin with a word, enter the word followed by an asterisk (*): the wildcard character. At least four characters must be provided in the truncated term.
• Search field tags (e.g., title, author, journal).  For example, [tiab] will search for the term in the title and abstract.
• Limits and Filters. Use limits to refine your search, such as publication date, article type, age group, or language.
• Use PubMed Clinical Queries to find clinical studies.
• Useful features after logging into PubMed.
  • Save searches. Search history items expire after 8 hour of inactivity. After logging in, on the search result page, click “create alert” to save the search. To retrieve or edit saved searches, click your username, then go to “Dashboard”.
  • Add interesting articles in your Collection for later review. Select articles first, then select “Send to”. In the dropdown menu, select “Collections”. You can find your Collections in your Dashboard.

Experimenting with different combinations of these tips can help you optimize your PubMed searches. For more tips about revising and refining your searches, please visit the library Introduction to Literature Search Guide.

PubMed User Guide

PubMed video tutorial by Netter Library

CINAHL® Complete is a comprehensive nursing & allied health research database, providing full text for nearly 1,400 journals indexed in CINAHL® and indexing for more than 5,400 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health.

• Three-line built in search option. Use the three-line built-in search option. Enter each concept on a separate line and combine them using Boolean AND.

Note: Avoid mixing combinations with AND OR. Refer to the images below.

• CINAHL Subject Headings. CINAHL® Complete accepts the U.S. National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) as the standard vocabulary for disease, drug, anatomical, and physiological concepts. CINAHL has its own subject headings as well.

The headings can be exploded to retrieve all references indexed to that term as well as all references indexed to any narrower term(s). Searches can also be limited with specific qualifiers (subheadings) to improve the precision of the search, and limited to major subject headings indicate the main focus of an article.

• Search Fields. Search field - TX All Text, performs a keyword search of all the database's searchable fields. Using the TX field code will cause the search to look for the keyword in the full text as well as the citation record.
• Search limiters / filters. Evidence-Based Practice Limiter is applied to articles from evidence based practice journals (including Cochrane), as well as articles about evidence based practice, research articles (including systematic reviews, clinical trials, meta analyses, qualitative studies), commentaries on research studies (applying practice to research), case studies if they meet the criteria of the use of research and/or evidence based practice terms. 

Remember to use additional filters (such as Randomized Controlled Trials, Publication Type, Geographic Subset, etc.) when applied.

To access CINHAL database help, click on 'Help' in the top right corner of the CINHAL homepage. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the left side and click on 'CINHAL Complete.'

CINAHL video tutorial by EBSCOhost

Cochrane Library's primary resource, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), contains systemic reviews, protocols, editorials, and supplements. Cochrane Library also includes the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Clinical Answers. Each contains a clinical question, a short answer, and data drawn from a Cochrane Review. 

• Advanced Search

There are four search options in Advanced Search page: Search, Search manager, Medical terms (MeSH), and PICO search. 

The first search option - Search, is useful for keyword searches. 

Search manager can be used when you have both keywords and MeSH terms in the search. 

Medical terms (MeSH) is where you can look up MeSH terms. 

PICO search: Enter a search term and select a PICO vocabulary term from the dropdown.

Note: when using PICO search, in the result, you only see results from Cochrane reviews. 

You can search in Scopus by document, author, or by affiliation. Scopus allows you to search for publications based on search terms relating to specific parts of a document when using Documents search option. 

Note: Scopus doesn't use controlled vocabulary to index articles. When it comes to searching, all you need are keywords

• Documents basic search option:

Click on “Add search field” to add a line in the search.

• Boolean operators in Scopus: in the basic search of Documents, click on "AND", you will see a dropdown menu of Boolean operators.  

• Searching phrases
• To find documents that contain an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in braces: {oyster toadfish}.

RESULT: This includes any stop words, spaces, and punctuation which you included in the braces.

For example:

{heart-attack} and {heart attack} will return different results because the dash is included.

• Wildcards are searched as actual characters, e.g., {health care?} returns results such as: Who pays for health care?

Double quotation marks are used when searching for a loose/approximate phrase. 

For example: TITLE-ABS-KEY( "heart attack") searches for documents where heart attack appear together in the title, abstract, or keywords.

For more information about searching Scopus, please visit Scopus Support Center - How do I search in Scopus?

APA PsycInfo® is a renowned resource devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health by the American Psychological Association's (APA). PsycInfo® is indexed with controlled vocabulary from APA's Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms®.

Searches can be performed similarly to CINHAL, as PsycInfo is also available on EBSCOhost.

When you don’t select any search field, the default fields for unqualified searches consist of the following: Title, Translated Title, Classification Codes, Abstract, Keyword, Subjects, and Author.

Log in to save searches. After logging in, click on 'Search History,' then select the search. Click on 'Save Searches / Alerts' under Search History/Alerts, located below the search box.

For more information about searching PsycInfo, please visit please visit the library Module 4: Literature Search Strategy – Database Searching Tutorials.

To access APA PsycInfo database help, click on 'Help' in the top right corner of the CINHAL homepage. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the left side and click on 'APA PsycInfo'.

APA PsycInfo video tutorial