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See something incorrect? Please email Whitney Townsend (whitneyt@umich.edu)"Search 101 - SR Database Cheat Sheet." 2020 by Taubman Health Sciences Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0
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PubMedOvid MedlineEmbase (Elsevier)ScopusWeb of Science (Core Collection)CINAHL (EBSCO)Cochrane Library (Wiley)
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Date range of database1946-present (indexed)1946-present (indexed)1974-present (Embase) 1947-1973 (Embase Classic)1966-present1900-present1937-present (CINAHL Complete) 1981-present (CINAHL)2003-present
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Controlled vocabularyMeSHMeSH
EMTREE--CINAHL Subject HeadingsMeSH
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Exampleterm[mesh]
term[mh]		term//exp
/de		--MHfrom MeSH search manager
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Major topicterm[majr]
term[mj]		*term//mj--MM
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Explode[mesh]
[mh]		exp term//exp --"CINAHL Heading"+
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No explode[mesh:noexp]
[mh:noexp] 		term//de--Default setting: "CINAHL HEADING"
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Example[mh:noexp] [sh:noexp] [majr:noexp]diabetes mellitus/example 'neoplasm'/de--MH "Neoplasms+", MM "Neoplasms+", MH "Neoplasms"
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SubheadingsMedline SubheadingsMedline SubheadingsEMTREE Subheadings--CINAHL SubheadingsMedline Subheadings
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Subheading hierarchySubheading HierarchySubheading Hierarchy----Subheading Hierarchy
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Subheading search defaultexplodeno explodeexplode--no explodeexplode
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Float sh[sh] [subheading].fs. (float subheading) .xs. (explode subheading)In Ovid Embase: .fs Embase.com: /lnk--MWAvailable from search tools, not as field code
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Examplediagnosis[sh]diagnosis.fs. tu.xs.dt.fs, 'diagnosis'/lnk--MW "DI"
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Search field descriptionsPubMed Search FieldsOvid Medline Search FieldsEmbase.com Field CodesSee Field RestrictionWoS(CC) Advanced Search Field TagsCINAHL Searchable Fields-
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Stopwords (link to stopword table)PubMed StopwordsOvid Medline Stopwords-See Phrases for searching with stopwords-CINAHL Stopwords
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Title search[ti].ti.:tiTITLE("neuropsychological evidence")TI=TI( )
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Title/abstract search[tiab].ab,ti. or .tw:ti,abTITLE-ABS("heart attack")TS= (topic search; TitleAbstractAuthor KeywordsKeywords PlusĀ®)
XB( )atrial fibrillation:ti,ab,kw (Title, Abstract, Keyword)
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Phrase searching" " (turns OFF mapping)" " ' 'will map to Emtree if enabled and no field tag{ } Braces: exact phrase, including any stop words, spaces, and punctuation. " " Quotes: terms appear adjacent to each other, punctuation is ignored, wildcards are searched as wildcards, plurals are included" "" " Exact phrase, stop words are ignored and replaced by any single word, search with and without punctuation and hyphens, wildcards are searched as wildcards" " (does not support wildcards)
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Example"atrial fibrillation""go/no-go" 'atrial fibrillation'"atrial fibrillation" {atrial fibrillation} "atrial fibrillation""atrial fibrillation""atrial fibrillation"
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Truncation/Wildcards* (turns OFF mapping)$ (unlimited truncation, limited truncation) # (mandated wildcard) ? (optional wildcard) * (For variable truncation (i.e., one or more letters) ? (For single-letter truncation) $ (For 0/1 character)? (replace single character) * (replace multiple characters)See Wildcards (* ? $)** one or more character ? single character
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Examplediagnos*disease$ dog$1 wom#n
colo?r 		diagnos*nure?berg behav*see examples on Wildcards pagetransplant*
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Mid-word truncation/Wildcards-See "truncation" above* for variable, ? for one variable (will not work within phrase)? (replace single character) * (replace multiple characters)See Wildcards (* ? $)? Single character; # Spelling variations with an extra characterSee above, can be used mid-word
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Example-See "truncation" abovesul*ur, mobili?ationnure?berg behavio*rsee examples on Wildcards pagemobili?ation; colo#rwom?n
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Adjacency/Proximity searchingEither order in the Title/Abstract field: "search terms"[tiab:~#] ; Either order in the Title field: "search terms"[ti:~#]. Cannot be combined with truncation (proximity will be ignored).adj (adjacency) adj# (defined adjacency)Embase.com: Either order: NEAR/n, In order entered: NEXT/n.PRE/n "precedes by". Where the first term in the search must precede the second by a specified number of terms (n). W/n "within". Where the terms in the search must be within a specified number of terms (n). Either word may appear first. NEAR/xEither order: N#; In order entered: W#NEAR finds the terms when they are within 6 words of each other. Terms can appear in either order. NEAR/X finds the terms when they are within X words of each other where X = the maximum number of words between search terms. NEXT finds the terms when they appear next to each other. Terms must appear in the order specified. Use for phrase
searching with wildcards.
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Example"communication risk"[tiab:~3]blood adj pressure
physician adj5 relationship		communication NEAR/3 (risk OR probability)pain W/15 morphine behavioural PRE/3 disturbancessalmon NEAR/15 viruscommunication N3 (risk OR probability)
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Date range searchingcustom [PDAT] NOTE: lots of other date range options in documentation (this is publication date)yr="xxxx - xxxx", .dp. NOTE: lots of other date range options in documentation (this is publication date)####:py NOTE: lots of other date range options in documentation (this is publication date)See PUBYEAR and PUBDATETXT sectionsPY=Publication Year field-
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Example("2001/01/01"[PDAT] : "3000/12/31"[PDAT])limit 1 to yr="2009 - current"
https://wkhealth.force.com/AudioDigest/s/article/Limit-by-date-range-in-Ovid		(2013:py OR 2014:py OR 2015:py)PY=(2008-2010)PY 2008-2015-
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Publication types/limitPublication typesPublication typesOvid Embase Publication TypesSee DOCTYPE (XX) sectionSearching the Document Type fieldPublication typesfilters on sidebar
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Example[ptype] [pt].pt./itDOCTYPE(ar)returns documents classified as articlesPT clinical trial-
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Human filterNOT (animals[mesh] NOT humans[mesh])NOT (animals.sh. NOT humans.sh.)NOT (('animal'/exp or 'nonhuman'/exp) NOT 'human'/exp)--NOT ((MH "Animals") NOT (MH "Human")) Construct from MeSH search manager
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Citation management export optionsSend to: citation manager (<250) OR file (>250)Direct Export toolSelect results and use Export linkDirect Export toolDirect export using "Save to" dropdownShare: Export results: Email a link to download exported resultsDirect export
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Send to: file use MEDLINE format (change from Summary default)Add results to folder and export from Folder View
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Cited reference searching---yes (back to 1996)yesSearchable cited references for 1,300+ journals-
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Indexing practicesJournal Selection for MEDLINE2015 Embase Indexing GuideScopus Content SelectionWoS Journal Selection ProcessCINAHL Database Coverage List
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Non-Latin/special charactershttps://uxcaucustips.blogspot.com/2023/02/tip-35-non-latin-characters-in-pubmed.htmlhttps://uxcaucustips.blogspot.com/2023/01/tip-32-non-latin-characters-in-ovid.html
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ExtrasPubMed NOT MedlineAvailable LimitsApplying FiltersAdvanced Search ExamplesUsing LimitsCochrane Library Training Hub
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Advanced SearchingSearch Operators