MEDLINE ® 2012 Database Guide
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Ovid MEDLINE ® covers the international literature on biomedicine, including the allied health fields and the biological and physical sciences, humanities, and information science as they relate to medicine and health care. Information is indexed from approximately 5,400 journals published world-wide.

Ovid MEDLINE ® is produced by the National Library of Medicine.

PreMEDLINE

The Ovid MEDLINE ® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations database consists of In-Process and PubMed-not-MEDLINE records from NLM.  The In-Process records are records that will be put into the Medline database after they have been enhanced with MeSH headings.  PubMed-not-MEDLINE records are records from journals found in PubMed but not selected for MEDLINE.  These records are constantly changing.  PubMed-not-MEDLINE records will not be added to the Medline database.  Ovid receives records from NLM on a daily basis, however we are dependent upon NLM's update schedule.

Ovid OLDMEDLINE

Ovid OLDMEDLINE ® covers the international biomedical journals covering the fields of medicine, preclinical sciences, and allied health sciences. The citations were originally printed in hard copy indexes published from 1946 through 1965.

Segments and Years of Coverage

The following Ovid MEDLINE segments are available to online users. Contact your local administrator to add or remove segments.
Name   Description   Years of Coverage
MED1 Ovid MEDLINE® 1946 to 1979
MED2 Ovid MEDLINE® 1980 to 1987
MED3 Ovid MEDLINE® 1988 to 1995
MED4 Ovid MEDLINE® 1996 to 2007
MDFC Ovid MEDLINE® 1996 to Present with Weekly Update
MDXC Ovid MEDLINE® 1996 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
MEDB Ovid MEDLINE® without Revisions 1946 to 1995
MEDC Ovid MEDLINE® All Corrections with Monthly Update
MEDF Ovid MEDLINE® without Revisions 1996 to Present with Weekly Update
MEDL Ovid MEDLINE®

2008 to Present with Weekly Update

MEDO Ovid OLDMEDLINE® 1946 to 1965 with Quarterly Update
MEDX Ovid MEDLINE® without Revisions 1996 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
MESD Ovid MEDLINE® 1946 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
MESX Ovid MEDLINE® Updated Daily
MESZ Ovid MEDLINE® 1946 to Present with Weekly Update
MEZZ Ovid MEDLINE® without Revisions 1946 to Present with Weekly Update
OMES Ovid MEDLINE® and Ovid OLDMEDLINE® 1946 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
OMME Ovid MEDLINE® and Ovid OLDMEDLINE® 1946 to Present with Weekly Update
PMED Ovid MEDLINE® Practice Database 2000
PMEZ Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE® Daily and Ovid MEDLINE® 1946 to Weekly with Daily & Weekly Update
PMFC

Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Ovid MEDLINE ®

1996 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
PMOZ Ovid MEDLINE®, Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE® Daily and Ovid OLDMEDLINE® 1946 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
POMM Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE® and Ovid OLDMEDLINE® 1946 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
PREM Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations Updated Daily
PRMF Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Ovid MEDLINE® without Revisions 1996 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update
PRMZ Ovid MEDLINE® In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Ovid MEDLINE ® 1946 to Present with Daily & Weekly Update

The limit of databases that you can select for a multifile search session is based upon database segments rather than actual databases. The Ovid multifile segment limit is set at 120 to avoid impacting your search sessions. This database includes 8 segments.

This database is updated online daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly.

Fields
The following list is sorted alphabetically by field alias. Click a field name to see the description and search information.
All Fields in this Database
Abbreviated Source (AS) ISSN Electronic (ES) Publishing Model (PI)
Abstract (AB) ISSN Print (IS) Publication Type (PT)
Authors (AU) Issue/Part (IP) Publisher (PB)
Authors Full Name (FA) Journal Name (JN) Publisher Item Identifier (DI)
Author Last Name (AX) Journal Subset (SB) Rare Disease Supplementary Concept (RS)
CAS Registry / EC Number/ Name of Substance (RN) Journal Word (JW) Record Owner (RO)
Comments (CM) Keyword Heading (KW) Revision Date (RD)
Country of Publication (CP) Keyword Heading Word (KF) Secondary Source ID (SI)
Date Created (DC) Language (LG) Secondary Source Link (SL)
Date of Publication (DP) MeSH Subject Heading (SH) Source (SO)
Electronic Date of Publication (EP) Name of Substance Word (NM) Space Flight Mission (SM)
Entry Date (ED) Name ID (NI) Status (ST)
Exploded MeSH Heading (XM) NLM Journal Code (JC) Subject Heading Word (HW)
Exploded Subheading (XS) NLM Journal Name (NJ) Text Word (TW)
Floating Subheading (FS) NLM Journal Word (NW) Title (TI)
Gene Symbol (GS) Original Title (OT) Title Comment (TC)
Gene Symbol Word (GW) Other Abstract (OA) Unique Identifier (UI)
General Note (NT) Other ID (OI) Update Date (UP)
Grant Number (NO) Page (PG) Version Date (VD)
Institution (IN) Personal Name as Subject (PN)
Volume (VO)
Investigator (IR) Primary Author (PA) Version ID (VI)
Investigator Affiliation (IA) Protocol Supplementary Concept (PS) Year of Publication (YR)
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Default Fields for Unqualified Searches: Searching for a term without specifying a field searches the following fields.
Abstract (AB) Name of Substance Word (NM) Title (TI)
Subject Heading Word (HW) Original Title (OT)
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Default Fields for Display, Print, Email, and Save: The following fields are included by default for each record.

Abstract (AB) Investigator Affiliation (IA) Record Owner (RO)
Authors (AU) Keyword Heading (KW) Source (SO)
Author's Full Name (FA) MeSH Subject Heading (SH) Secondary Source Link (SL)
CAS Registry / EC Number/ Name of Substance (RN) Original Title (OT) Status (ST)
Date of Publication (DP) Other Abstract (OA) Title (TI)
Institution (IN) Other ID (OI) Unique Identifier (UI)
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All Fields for Display, Print, Email, and Save: Use the Select Fields button in the Results Manager at the bottom of the Main Search Page to choose the fields for a record.

Abbreviated Source (AS) Institution (IN) Personal Name as Subject (PN)
Abstract (AB) Investigator (IR) Publishing Model (PI)
Authors (AU) Investigator Affiliation (IA) Publication Type (PT)
Author's Full Name (FA) ISSN Print (IS) Revision Date (RD)
CAS Registry / EC Number/ Name of Substance (RN) Journal Subset (SB) Secondary Source AN (SA)
Comments (CM) Keyword Heading (KW) Secondary Source ID (SI)
Country of Publication (CP) Language (LG) Secondary Source Link (SL)
Date of Publication (DP) Local Messages (LM) Source (SO)
DOI (DO) MeSH Subject Heading (SH) Space Flight Mission (SM)
Electronic Date of Publication (EP) NLM Journal Code (JC) Status (ST)
Entry Date (ED) NLM Journal Name (NJ) Title (TI)
Gene Symbol (GS) Original Title (OT) Unique Identifier (UI)
General Note (NT) Other ID (OI) Update Date (UP)
Grant Number (NO) Other Abstract (OA) Year of Publication (YR)
ISSN Linking (IL) Publisher Item Identifier (DI)  
ISSN Electronic (ES) Record Owner (RO)  
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Elements of Source (SO) Field: Ovid searches the following fields as part of the record source.
Issue/Part (IP) Page (PG) Volume (VO)
Journal Name (JN) Publisher (PB) Year of Publication (YR)
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The following list is sorted alphabetically by the two-letter label, and includes the relevant alias, at least one example for all searchable fields, and a description of the field.
Label Name / Example
AB Abstract [Word Indexed]
f108.ab.

Since 1975, NLM has included author-written abstracts from journals whose publishers gave the NLM permission for their use.  These abstracts appear in the Abstract (AB) field.  Over 50% of the documents in Ovid MEDLINE (R) contain abstracts.

The abstract index contains all searchable words from the abstract.

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AS Abbreviated Source [Display Only]

The Abbreviated Source (AS) field includes a display of all the basic information needed to locate a citation, including the Journal Abbreviation (JA) or monograph Publisher (PB), the Volume(VO), Issue/Part (IP), Page (PG) and Date of Publication (DP).

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AU Authors [Phrase Indexed]
gabathuler r.au.

The Authors (AU) field contains the authors of the article.  The format for authors is last name followed by one or more initials:  Smith JC or Smith J. Enter the last name, or if it is a common name, enter the last name and first initial. If you are unsure of the spelling of the last name (macdonald or mcdonald), enter one version and then scroll through the list of names to find the other.

Misspelled and corrected names are now included in the Author Index to ensure all possible matches. Only correct author names display, while incorrectly spelled names are indexed along with the correct spelling of the name.

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AX Author Last Name [Phrase Indexed]
fabiola.ax.
The Author Last Name (AX) index allows you to search for the authors’ last names. Author names display in Authors (AU) and Authors Full Name (FA) fields.
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CM Comments [Word Indexed]
e296.cm.
The Comments (CM) field contains an indication that the article either contains a comment on another article or is commented on in another article. The CM field  begins with the indication "Comment On" or "Comment In" and then displays the Journal Abbreviation (JA), Date of Publication (DP), Volume (VO), Issue/Part(IP) and Page (PG).

Articles that contain a comment display with [comment] appended to the end of the article title. Articles that are commented on in another article display with [see comment] appended to the end of the article title.
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CP

Country of Publication [Phrase Indexed]
new zealand.cp.

The Country of Publication (CP) field contains the full name of the country in which an article was published. The country name is entered into the index as a phrase.
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DC Date Created [ Phrase Indexed]
19931208.dc.

Date Created (DC) field contains the date that processing of the record begins, in the format YYYYMMDD (19411201).
This is contrasted with Entry Date (ED), which is the date processing ends. Date Created is not the same as NLM's PubMed Entrez Date (EDAT), which is the date the record entered PubMed.

For citations up to about the year 2000, the Date Created (DC) and Entry Date (ED) data elements are identical. These dates were derived from NLM's legacy ELHILL system.

For OLDMEDLINE citations converted from the 1964 and 1965 Index Medicus (IM), Date Created represents the year and month the citations were printed in the monthly Index Medicus, and the day will always be "01". All other OLDMEDLINE records have a year based on the year of the printed index, the month is always "12" for December, and the day is always "01".

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DI Publisher Item Identifier [Phrase Indexed]
s1413.di.

The Publisher Item Identifier (DI) field uniquely identifies individually published documents that are provided by the publisher for new citation submission.  The full PII appears as such e.g “S0036-36342008000600005”.

Search all PII's by replacing punctuation with spaces such as "S0036 36342008000600005".di. for the displayed PII of S0036-36342008000600005.

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DO DOI [Phrase Indexed]
10 1364 oe 17 015508.do.
The DOI (DO) field contains the Digital Object Identifier - a unique and persistent digital identification code for any object of intellectual property. The DOI itself consists of two parts: a prefix which is assigned to each publisher by the administrative DOI agency, e.g., "10.1097", and a suffix which is assigned by the publisher and can be any code that the publisher chooses, e.g., "00045415-200111000-00002". The full DOI appears as such: "10.1097/00045415-200111000-00002". Search all DOI's by replacing punctuation with spaces such as "10 1016 j adnc 2003 08 001".do. for the displayed DOI of 10.1016/j.adnc.2003.08.001.

The DOI field will be used only for new records added during the 2008 production year. As articles with DOI input are sent to Ovid, they will be added to the Ovid Medline database starting with 2008 data going forward.
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DP Date of Publication [Phrase Indexed]
1878 jan.dp.
The Date of Publication (DP) field consists of the date of publication for a citation, in the format YYYY MMM DD (1950 dec 3). The Month and day are not always present. This field is also displayed as part of the Source (SO) field.
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ED Entry Date [Phrase Indexed]
20091117.ed.
The Entry Date (ED) field contains the issue (year, month and day) in which the document was indexed as a MEDLINE (R) record. This index appears in the format YYYYMMDD.
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EP Electronic Date of Publication [Phrase Indexed]
20091023.ep.

The Electronic Date of Publication (EP) is the date the record was sent to NLM for inclusion in MEDLINE ®. This index appears in the format YYYYMMDD.

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ES ISSN Electronic [Phrase Indexed]
0003 3898.is.

The ISSN Electronic (ES) field contains the Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN) for the journal in which an article was published. It appears as an 8 digit number, separated by a hyphen: 0028-4793. To retrieve all of the articles for a journal, search by the Journal Name (JN).

Both Electronic and Print ISSNs can be searched in the ISSN Print (IS) field.

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FA Authors Full Name [Phrase Indexed]
fabbriconi p.fa.

The Authors Full Name (FA) field contains the full name of the authors of the article when available.

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FS Floating Subheadings [Phrase Indexed]
legislation jurisprudence.fs.

Subheadings are qualifiers added to MeSH subject headings to refine their meaning. Terms such as "etiology" or "therapy," when combined with a MeSH heading, give a precise idea of what an article covers.

The Floating Subheadings (FS) field contains both the 2-letter codes, such as "po," and the full heading, such as "poisoning." These are displayed following the corresponding MeSH Subject Headings.

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GS Gene Symbol [Phrase Indexed]
17 lower case beta hsd.gs.

The Gene Symbol (GS) field contains Gene Symbols as they are entered into Ovid MEDLINE ® in the original document. They often, but not always, conform to standardized human gene nomenclature.  Ignore super or sub-scripts in entry of a gene symbol:  psub 1450 would be entered p1450. Enter hyphens as in the original symbol.

The Gene Symbol field was added to Ovid MEDLINE ® in 1991.  Beginning in 1996, data will no longer be added to this field.

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GW Gene Symbol Word [Word Indexed]
0602.gw.
The Gene Symbol Word (GW) index contains individual words from the Gene Symbol (GS) field.  The Gene Symbol field was added to Ovid MEDLINE ® in 1991.  Beginning in 1996, data will no longer be added to this field.
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HW Subject Heading Word [Word Indexed]
EMPLOYMENT.hw.

The Subject Heading Word (HW) index allows you to retrieve every MeSH Subject Heading and Publication Type that include a particular word. Do this by searching a single word in the Subject Heading Word (HW) field.

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IA Investigator Affiliation [Word Indexed]
e15782.in.

The Investigator Affiliation (IA) field contains the affiliation of the investigator of the article, and displays as part of the Institution (IN) field.

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IL

ISSN Linking [Phrase Indexed]
0003 2670.il.

The ISSN Linking (IL) index contains an identifier intended to provide a mechanism to group the various medium versions of a continuing resource. The purpose of the ISSN-L is to provide a mechanism for grouping, or collocating, the various medium versions of a resource, for instance, the print and online versions of a journal per ISO 3297 standards.

"The first ISSN assigned, in the ISSN Register, to any medium version of a continuing resource shall be designated by default to function also as the ISSN-L and shall apply to all other media versions of that resource identified in the ISSN Register.

The ISSN Linking field will be used only for new records added during the 2008 production year (although NLM still does not know the timing when all will be in place to start to appear on records).

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IN Institution [Word Indexed]
c1ement.in.

The Institution (IN) field contains the primary author's affiliation, which is usually the source for a reprint of the article. This index also contains the investigators affiliation. This information can be searched in most documents since 1988, but records from earlier years which were added to the database after 1988 may also contain institution information. Beginning with documents indexed in 1996, the primary author's email address will also be included, if present in the journal.

The information is taken from the source document and is not standardized. Enter the single most descriptive word in an institution (harvard, not university). Consider both full spellings and abbreviations.

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IP Issue/Part [Word Indexed]
1808.ip.
supplement.ip.
The Issue/Part (IP) field contains the Issue and/or part for a particular volume of a journal. This field usually displays as part of the Source (SO) field.
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IR Investigator [Phrase Indexed]
barrowman n.ir.

The Investigator (IR) field contains personal names of individuals (e.g., collaborators and investigators) who are not authors of a paper but rather are listed in the paper as members of a collective/corporate group that is an author of the paper. The format for authors is last name followed by one or more initials: Smith JC or Smith J.

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IS ISSN Print [Phrase Indexed]
8756 8160.is.
8756 3150.is.

The ISSN Print (IS) field contains the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for the journal in which an article was published. It appears as an 8 digit number, separated by a hyphen: 0028-4793. To retrieve all of the articles for a journal, search by the Journal Name (JN).

Both Electronic and Print ISSNs can be searched in the IS index.

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JA Journal Abbreviation [Display Only]

The Journal Abbreviation (JA) is the journal title abbreviation that is displayed in the Abbreviated Source (AS) field and cannot be searched.

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JC NLM Journal Code [Phrase Indexed]
9891704.jc.
The NLM Journal Code (JC) is an alpha-numeric code established by NLM which uniquely identifies every journal indexed in the NLM databases. Only the 7 digit code is searchable, in some cases the 3 digit alpha-numeric code will display as well.
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JN Journal Name [Phrase Indexed]
aesthetic surgery journal.jn.

The Journal Name (JN) field contains the full name of the journal in which the article was published. Journal names are indexed as phrases, so enter enough letters of the journal name to locate the name in the index:  new engl (for New England Journal of Medicine). This field usually displays as part of the Source (SO) field.

If the first word of a Journal Name is "The", it has been stripped off.

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JW Journal Word [Word Indexed]
chemosphere.jw.
The Journal Word (JW) field contains individual words from every journal name in Ovid MEDLINE®. This field displays as part of the Source (SO) field.
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KF Keyword Heading Word [Word Indexed]
macrozamin.kf.

The Keyword Heading Word (KF) field allows you to retrieve every Keyword Heading that includes a particular word field.

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KW Keyword Heading [Phrase Indexed]
dacryocystitis differential diagnosis.kw.

The Keyword Heading (KW) field contains the Keyword Headings assigned by indexers at NLM to describe the content of an article. To retrieve every Keyword Heading that includes a particular word, search for the word in the Keyword Heading Word (KF) field.

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LG Language [Phrase Indexed]
greek.lg.
The Language (LG) field contains the language(s) of publication of an article. The language name will appear in the index as the full form and a 3-letter code (such as fre for French) and as the full name French. The codes are usually, but not always, the first three letters of the language name.

The language index is quickly scrollable to determine all languages which appear in Ovid MEDLINE (R).

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LH Locally Held [Display Only]
The Locally Held (LH) field indicates (with a "Y" or an "N") if a journal is held locally.
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LM Local Messages [Display Only]
The Local Messages (LM) field contains messages created by the System Administrator to indicate information about journals held in your local library system.
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NI Name ID [Phrase Indexed]
NCBI.ni.
Name ID (NI) field contains Source attributes and as yet unknown values that may be needed for the NameID sources in the future. Name ID is phrase indexed.

Please note that the Name ID (NI) field has not yet been used; it is expected to be implemented at some point during the 2011 production year.

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NJ NLM Journal Name [Phrase Indexed]
advances in urology.nj.
The NLM Journal Name (NJ) field contains the full name of the journal in which an article was published.
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NM Name of Substance Word [Word Indexed]
oasomycin.nm.

The Name of Substance (NM) field contains single words from the CAS Registry /EC Number/Name of Substance (RN) field and is used to search portions of chemical names. This field displays as part of the CAS Registry/EC Number/Name of Substance (RN) field.

The Name of Substance (NM) field was added to MEDLINE in 1980.

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NO Grant Number [Phrase Indexed]
00 ai 0005.no.
The Grant Numbers (NO) field was created by NLM in 1981 to specify documents reporting on federally-funded research. Grant or contract numbers are displayed in full, but special characters except hyphens have been removed from the index.
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NT General Note [Display Only]

The General Note (NT) field contains general supplementary information about an item. The notes may include information on the availability of a bibliography, ordering information for dissertations or hearings, or general summaries of materials such as manuals or scripts. A series title may appear for a book or for audiovisual materials.

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NW NLM Journal Word [Word Indexed]
laboratory.nw.
medicinal.nw.

The NLM Journal Word (NW) index contains individual words from every journal name in the NLM Journal Name (NJ) field.

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OA

Other Abstract [Word Indexed]
f10h10oh.ab.

The Other Abstract (OA) field includes a brief abstract written by collaborating partners. The OA field is indexed in Abstract (AB) field, and contains all searchable words from the other abstract. Collaborating partners include:

NLM

U.S National Library of Medicine

AIDS

Special HIV/AIDS publications with abstracts written by someone other than the author

KIE

Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

PIP

Population Information Program, Johns Hopkins School of Health
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OI Other ID [Phrase Indexed]
nihms152550.oi.

The Other ID (OI) is a unique alpha-numeric code. In particular, it will contain the PubMed Central Identifier (PMCID), where the alphabetical prefix 'PMC' precedes the identifier. If the publisher has embargoed access to the full text, the date of availability in PubMed Central will be noted. When the embargo is lifted, a revised record with the date of availability removed will be released.

Other ID's are entered into the index as phrases. In particular, PMC ID's should be searched as how the alpha-numeric code appears in PubMed Central (PMC).

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OT Original Title [Word Indexed]
sairauskertomus.ot.
The Original Title (OT) includes any non-English titles in the original language. If the original title was in a non-Roman alphabet, then the OT is transliterated.
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PA

Primary Author [Phrase Indexed]
abacioglu yh.pa.
pacella bl.pa.

The Primary Author (PA) field contains the first author listed for the article. This allows users to search for articles by any primary author. Author names display in Authors (AU) and Authors Full Name (FA) fields.

Searching for smith rh.pa. will return results where Smith RH was listed as the main author of the article.

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PB

Publisher [Word Indexed]
Abstr Int Congr Trop Med Malar.pb.

The Publisher (PB) index contains publisher information for books, monographs or any non-journal publications.  This information is taken from the source document as it appears, so variant forms of a publisher are possible. This field is usually displayed as part of the Source (SO) field.

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PG Page [Phrase Indexed]
e012.pg.

The Page (PG) field consists of the inclusive pagination of a journal article. Often a journal title combined with the beginning page number is enough to locate a citation. You can search for pages with alphanumeric characters, such as "a1.pg."

This field displays as part of the Source (SO) field.

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PI Publishing Model [Display Only]

The Publishing Model (PI) field provides the model of publishing of the original document described in the record. The field indicates if the article cited is available in Print or Electronic format. It also indicates if the citation was converted from a Print or Internet source. This field is display only; you cannot search this field.       

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PN Personal Name as Subject [Phrase Indexed]
N Ypsilante.pn.
The Personal Name as Subject (PN) index includes the name of a well-known person if they are discussed in an article, such as an interview or obituary.

The format for Personal Name is the same as for Author -- last name and initials:  Bach JS.  Enter a last name and one initial if known.
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PS Protocol Supplementary Concept [Phrase Indexed]
ABDIC protocol.ps.

The Protocol Supplementary Concept (PS) field contains the Protocol Class 2 SCR terms. These terms were previously exported in CAS Registry/ EC Number/Name of Substance (RN) in MEDLINE/PubMed. The PS terms are phrase indexed.

With the 2011 reload, Protocol Supplementary Concept (PS) will be loaded separately only for new records added during 2011 production year.

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PT Publication Type [Phrase Indexed]
journal article.pt.
published erratum.pt.

In addition to indexing documents with Medical Subject Headings, the indexers at the National Library of Medicine assign terms to describe the article type. Publication Types include such classifications as reviews, clinical trials, directories and letters. These terms appear in the Publication Type (PT) field.

To view the index, enter enough letters to distinguish a publication type (jour for "journal article"); the entire index is quickly scrollable to determine all possible publication types.

With the 2005 reload, Publication Types are also loaded into the MeSH. Because some Publication Types are also MeSH terms, the syntax to enter the Tree is "Randomized controlled trial [publication type]". To post the results from the Tree without entering the Tree, the syntax is: "Randomized controlled trial [publication type]"/ or Randomized controlled trial.pt.

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RD Revision Date [Phrase Indexed]
20031107.rd.
The Revision Date (RD) field contains the issue (year, month and day) in which the document was revised in Index Medicus. The RD field appears in the format YYYYMMDD. Previously, the RD field was indexed with the Entry Date (ED) field. Now, it is a separate index.
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RN CAS Registry/EC Number/Name of Substance [Phrase Indexed]
7732-18-5.rn.

The CAS Registry/EC Number/Name of Substance (RN) field contains the Chemical Abstracts Service Registry number or Enzyme Commission number for a compound mentioned in an article. If the generic compound name can be determined, it is included. The RN field was added to Ovid MEDLINE (R) 1980.

Registry numbers appear with hyphens (50-00-0). Search for EC numbers in the format ec 1 1 1 1 adh1c protein human. Chemical names appear with all special characters except hyphens removed.

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RS Rare Disease Supplementary [Phrase Indexed]
.rs.

The Rare Disease Supplementary Concept (RS) field contains the Protocol Class 3 SCR terms. The RS terms are phrase indexed.

Beginning with 2011 MEDLINE/PubMed data, Rare Disease Class 3 SCRs are also going to be exported.

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RO Record Owner [Phrase Indexed]
nasa.ro.

The Record Owner (RO) field contains the owner of the record.

HMD

History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine

HSR

Health Services Research

KIE

Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NLM

National Library of Medicine

PIP

Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs
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SA Secondary Source AN [Word Indexed]
nct00138983.sa.

The Secondary Source AN (SA) index contains the unique identifiers of outside resources discussed in MEDLINE articles. The display will include the Secondary Source ID (SI) and the unique identifier seperated by a forward slash (RefSeq/NM_020533). If you wish to search all works from a particular databank use the Secondary Source ID (SI) index: refseq.si.

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SB Journal Subset [Phrase Indexed]
aim.sb.

The Journal Subset (SB) field identifies the subset for MEDLINE records from certain journal lists or records on specialized topics. Some of these values are found on extremely small numbers of records. Citations may contain more than one occurrence of this field. The value is true at the time the record was created. If the status of a journal changes, the value on the record does not change.

Subset field values and their definitions are as follows. Note that several are closed subsets no longer being assigned.

AIM citations from Abridged Index Medicus journals, a list of about 120 core clinical, English language journals.
B citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of biotechnology (not currently used).
C citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of communication disorders (not currently used).
D citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of dentistry; earlier citations appeared in Index to Dental Literature. See the current List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE (LJI) under Dentistry and Orthodontics.
E citations in the field of bioethics. (Includes records from the former BIOETHICS database)
F older citations from one journal prior to its selection for Index Medicus. Used to augment the database for NLM's International MEDLARS Centers (not currently used).
H citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of health administration. (Includes records from the former HealthSTAR database)
IM citations from Index Medicus journals.
J citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of population information. (Not currently used; on records from the former POPLINE® database)
K citations from non-Index Medicus journals relating to consumer health.
N citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of nursing; these citations appeared in the International Nursing Index. See the current List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE (LJI) under Nursing.
OM pre-1966 citations (including records from the former OLDMEDLINE database).
Q citations in the field of the history of medicine. (Includes records from the former HISTLINE® database)
QIS citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of the history of medicine. (For NLM use effective as of late 2006 because they require special handling at NLM. QIS is not a subset of Q but some journals previously designated as Q are now designated as QIS.)
QO is subset of Q - indicates older history of medicine journal citations that were created before the former HISTLINE file was converted to a MEDLINE-like format. (For NLM use because they require special handling at NLM).
R citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of population and reproduction; these citations appeared in Population Sciences (not currently used).
S citations in the field of space life sciences. (Includes records from the former SPACELINE™ database)
T citations from non-Index Medicus journals in the field of health technology assessment. (Includes records from the former HealthSTAR database)
X citations in the field of AIDS/HIV. (Includes records from the former AIDSLINE® database)
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SH MeSH Subject Headings [Phrase Indexed]
hierarchy social.sh.
randomized controlled trial.sh.

The MeSH Subject Headings (SH) field contains the Medical Subject Headings used by indexers at NLM to describe the content of an article. NLM's MeSH terms are organized in a hierarchy, or "tree" structure.

MeSH headings are entered into the index as phrases and should be searched as they appear in the NLM MeSH books or in our Tree display.

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SI Secondary Source ID [Phrase Indexed]
clinicaltrials.si.

The Secondary Source ID (SI) identifies secondary source databanks with unique identifiers of outside resources discussed in MEDLINE articles. The field is composed of the source acronym: GENBANK.

The Secondary Source ID (SI) formerly known as the Molecular Sequence (MS) field was added to Ovid MEDLINE (R) in 1988.

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SL Secondary Source Linking [Phrase Indexed]
http clinicaltrials gov search term nct00138983.sl.
The Secondary Source Linking (SL) index contains the URL to the outside resources discussed in MEDLINE articles when the Secondary Source ID is either ClinicalTrials.gov or ISRCTN. The index contains the the URL, for searching ease use the Secondary Source AN (SA) index: nct00000150.sa.
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SM Space Flight Mission [Phrase Indexed]
Aerobee 150A Project.sm.
The Space Flight Mission (SM) field provides descriptive values for each Space Flight Mission.
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SO

Source (JN, PB, PG, YR, VO, IP)
accounts of chemical research.jn.
a39.pg.

The Source (SO) field includes a display of all the basic information needed to locate a record, including the full Journal Name (JN), Publisher (PB), the Issue/Part (IP), Page (PG), Volume (VO), and Date of Publication (DP).
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ST Status [Text Indexed]
pubmed not medline.st.

The Status (ST) field contains the status of the citation.

In-Data-Review records have passed the first step in quality control and will either be reissued as In-process records or go directly to PubMed-not-MEDLINE as the final record status.

In-Process records are electronically submitted and have gone through the second citation-level review.

Medline records have passed all steps in quality control and have been indexed.

OldMedline records were produced before the Index Medicus was available and begin in OLDMEDLINE status. Once all of the original subject terms from the printed index have been mapped to current MeSH, the citation status is changed to MEDLINE.

PubMed-not-MEDLINE records have gone through the second citation-level review, but are from non-Medline journals or precede the date a journal was selected forMEDLINE indexing but are now being submitted for inclusion.

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TC Title Comment [Word Indexed]
immunohematol.tc.

Display only in the Title (TI) field

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TI Title [Word Indexed]
014f3.ti.
s2mo18o62.ti.
The Title (TI) field contains the English language version of a title. For documents which were not written in English, the original or transliterated title appears in a separate field, Original Title (OT).  

The title sometimes includes notes, in brackets, about the article, such as an indication that it is a letter, editorial, or comment.
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TW Text Word (AB, TI)
000013.ab.
f127.ti.

The Text Word (TW) field is an alias for all of the fields in a database which contain text words and which are appropriate for a subject search.

The Textword field in Ovid MEDLINE (R) contains the word indexed data from theTitle (TI) and Abstract (AB).

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UI Unique Identifier [Phrase Indexed]
10339538.ui.
9990101.ui.

The Unique Identifier (UI) field contains an 8-digit number assigned by NLM to uniquely identify a particular record. This number is also the one used to locate the document through NLM's document delivery service. This number was formerly the PubMed Identifier (PMID).

PubMed no longer supplies PMID numbers with the input data. You can search for PMID and UI pairs using NLM's Matcher tool, located on NLM's website at http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/publisher/uidpmid.cgi/.

You can also download a full table of PMID numbers and their related Unique Identifiers can be found at ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/. This location includes 6 .zip files that comprise the full table of pairs:

MuId-PmId-1.zip MuId-PmId-4.zip

MuId-PmId-2.zip

MuId-PmId-5.zip

MuId-PmId-3.zip

MuId-PmId-6.zip

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UP Update Date [Phrase Indexed]
20091215.up.
The Update Date (UP) field contains the date the record was added to MEDLINE since the yearly reload completion. The Update Date for existing records changes with each global reload to reflect the date Ovid starts processing the reload data. The UP field appears in the format YYYYMMDD.
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VD Version Date [Phrase Indexed]
20091207.vd.
Version Date (VD) field is a new model of publishing referred to as "versioning" whereby multiple versions of the same online article are released, sometimes in quick succession and sometimes almost as soon as the original article has been published. Although the Version Date value may be different from the Date of Publication, it might be the same as Date of Publication if the new version was released later the same day. Version Date is phrase indexed.

NLM does not expect many journals will publish versions, thus the incidence of versioned citations will be small. PLos Currents Influenza, a PubMed Central journal, is one example (and is the only journal involved at this time).

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VI Version ID [Phrased Indexed]
"PMC2781303.2".vi.
Version ID (VI) field is a new model of publishing referred to as .versioning. whereby multiple versions of the same online article are released. Though NLM does not expect many journals will publish versions, thus the incidence of versioned citations will be small. PLos Currents Influenza, a PubMed Central journal, is one example (and is the only journal involved at this time). Version ID is phrase indexed.
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VO Volume [Word Indexed]
suppl.vo.
insider.vo.
The Volume (VO) field consists of the volume and issue of a serial publication. This field usually displays as part of the Source (SO) field.
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XM Exploded MeSH Heading [Phrase Indexed]
acetic acid.xm.
testosterone congeners.xm.
The Exploded MeSH Heading (XM) field displays pre-exploded MeSH Headings. MeSH Subject Headings are hierarchical, with up to twelve levels of narrower terms from the top of a hierarchy. In order to retrieve a term and all of its narrower terms, a subject heading must be "exploded", that is, the subject heading and all narrower terms are "OR'd" together. OVID pre-explodes highly-posted broader terms with their narrower terms during loading. These pre-exploded MeSH Headings are displayed in the MeSH Subject Headings (SH) field.
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XS Exploded Subheading [Phrase Indexed]
tu.xs.
pd.xs.

The Exploded Subheadings (XS) field displays the two-letter codes for the pre-exploded subheadings.

Sometimes multiple MeSH Subheadings can be logically grouped together. Such related groups of subheadings are "pre-exploded" under one broad subheading. This means that all the grouped subheadings can be retrieved together by searching on the "pre-exploded" version of the broad subheading. These pre-exploded MeSH Headings are displayed in the MeSH Subject Headings (SH) field. Their complete list can be found in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK3827/table/pubmedhelp.T41/. The CAPITAL two letter codes in the left column are the Exploded Subheadings. Terms under the exploded subheading are also searched when you use the exploded subheading.

For example, the Ovid search: an.xs retrieves any records that contain the subheadings Analysis, Blood, Cerebrospinal Fluid, Isolation and Purification or Urine.

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YR Year of Publication
2008.yr.
The Year of Publication (YR) field contains the year in which an article or monograph was published. Only the four digit years appear in the index.
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Advanced Searching
You can use special search syntax to combine search terms or strategically develop a search.
Operator Syntax Search Example Sample Results
OR x or y heart attack or myocardial infarction "Role of adjunctive thrombectomy and embolic protection devices in acute myocardial infarction: a comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized trials."

The OR operator retrieves records that contain any or all of the search terms. For example, the search heart attack or myocardial infarction retrieves results that contain the terms heart attack, myocardial infarction or both terms; results are all inclusive. You can use the OR operator in both unqualified searches and searches applied to a specific field.
AND x and y blood pressure and stroke "Alcohol intake, circadian blood pressure variation, and stroke"

The AND operator retrieves only those records that include all of the search terms. For example, the search blood pressure and stroke retrieves results that contain the term blood pressure and the term stroke together in the same record; results are exclusive of records that do not contain both of these terms. You can use the AND operator in both unqualified searches and searches applied to a specific field.
NOT x not y health reform not health maintenance organizations "Financial crisis threatens US health reform. "

The NOT operator retrieves records that contain the first search term and excludes the second search term. For example, the search health reform not health maintenance organizations retrieves only those records that contain the term health reform but excludes the term health maintenance organizations. In this way, you can use the NOT operator to restrict results to a specific topic.
You can use the NOT operator in both unqualified searches and searches applied to a specific field.
Adjacency (ADJ) x y blood adj pressure "Blood pressure and mortality risk on peritoneal "

The Adjacent operator (ADJ) retrieves records with search terms next to each other.You do not need to separate search terms manually by inserting ADJ between them, because when you separate terms with a space on the command line, Ovid automatically searches for the terms adjacent to one another. For example, the search blood pressure is identical to the search blood adj pressure.
Defined Adjacency (ADJn) x ADJn y physician adj5 relationship "Changes in physician-patient relationship"

The defined adjacency operator (ADJn) retrieves records that contain search terms within a specified number (n) of words from each other in any order. To use the adjacency operator, separate your search terms with ADJ and a number from 1 to 99. For example, the search physician adj5 relationship retrieves records that contain the words physician and relationship within five words of each other in either direction. This particular search retrieves records containing such phrases as physician patient relationship, patient physician relationship, or relationship of the physician to the patient.
Frequency (FREQ) x.ab./FREQ=n blood.ab./freq=5 "Is the accuracy of blood pressure measuring devices underestimated at increasing blood pressure levels?"

The frequency operator (FREQ) lets you specify a threshold of occurrence of a term in the records retrieved from your search. Records containing your search term are retrieved only if the term occurs at least the specified (n) number of times. In general, records that contain many instances of your search term are more relevant than records that contain fewer instances. The frequency operator is particularly useful when searching a text field, such as Abstract or Full Text, for a common word or phrase.
Unlimited Truncation ($) x$ disease$ "identify genes responsible for diseases and traits"

Unlimited truncation retrieves all possible suffix variations of the root word indicated. To apply unlimited truncation to a term, type the root word or phrase followed by either of the truncation characters: $ (dollar sign) or : (colon). For example, in the truncated search disease$, Ovid retrieves the word disease as well as the words diseases, diseased, and more.
Limited Truncation ($) x$n dog$1 "renal function in healthy dogs"

Limited truncation specifies a maximum number of characters that may follow the root word or phrase. For example, the truncated search dog$1 retrieves results with the words dog and dogs; but it does not retrieve results with the word dogma.
Mandated Wildcard (#) xx#y wom#n "serum homocysteine levels in postmenopausal women"

Searching with a mandated wildcard retrieves all possible variations of a word in which the wildcard is present in the specified place. You can use it at the end of a term to limit results to only those that contain the word plus the mandated character. For example, the search dog# retrieves results that contain the word dogs, but not those that contain the word dog, effectively limiting results to only those that contain the plural form of the word. The mandated wild card character (#) is also useful for retrieving specialized plural forms of a word. For example, the search wom#n retrieves results that contain both woman and women. You can use multiple wild cards in a single query word.
Optional Wildcard (?) xx?y colo?r "Hair changes. Age has effect on color, thickness."

The optional wild card character (?) can be used within or at the end of a search term to substitute for one or no characters. This wild card is useful for retrieving documents with British and American word variants since it specifies that you want retrieval whether or not the extra character is present. For example, the optional wild card search colo?r retrieves results that contain the words color or colour. You can use multiple wild cards in a single query word.
Literal String ("") "x / y"

"go/no-go"

"Single trial-based prediction of a go/no-go decision in monkey superior colliculus"

"n"

"3".vo

"Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine. 3(12):689-92, 2006 Dec."

Quotation marks can be used to retrieve records that contain literal strings, when the string includes special characters, such as a forward slash (/).

Quotation marks can also be used to retrieve records that contain numbers that may otherwise be confused for earlier searches. In the example, a search for 3.vo would limit the string from your third search in your search history to the volume field. By including the number in quotation marks, the search will retrieve documents with a 3 in the volume number.

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Stopwords
At customer request, Stopwords have been eliminated from this database. You can now search for words or phrases like hope not forthcoming.tw. Previously such searches would have returned an error because they included stopwords.
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Limits
The following limits are available for this database. See Database Limits in the OvidSP Online Help for details on applying limits.

Limit

Syntax
Abstracts Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to abstracts
Command Syntax: ..l/ ab=y
A limit to Abstracts restricts retrieval to documents which include an abstract. Over 50% of Ovid MEDLINE (R) records after 1975 contain abstracts. All abstracts included in Ovid MEDLINE (R) are in English and were written by the author(s) of the original article.
Age Groups Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to infant
limit 1 to adult
limit 1 to middle aged
A limit by Age Group restricts retrieval by any of the age groups indexed by NLM. Since only human age groups are indexed, this limit will also restrict retrieval to human subjects. If you choose this option you will be presented with a list of age groups from which to select.
All EBMR Article
Reviews
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to all ebmr article reviews
A limit to All EBMR Article Reviews restricts your retrieval to those articles for which a review exists in either the ACP Journal Club or DARE databases. In other words, the studies and articles have been reviewed by either the ACP Journal Club or BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine publications or by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination Reviewers at the University of York, England. Use this limit if you are interested in restricting your retrieval only to reviews of individual studies or articles.
Animals Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to animals

A limit to Animals restricts retrieval to documents which are primarily about animal subjects. It will retain articles about both human and animal subjects. Consider also the Limit to Animal Type, which will allow you to select from a list of common experimental research animals.

Animal Types Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to cats
limit 1 to rabbits
A limit by Animal Type restricts retrieval to any of the basic animal types indexed by NLM. If you choose this option you will be presented with a short alphabetical list of some common research animal types from which to select. Consider also the Limit to Animal, which restricts retrieval to documents which are about any animal subject.
Article Reviews
(DARE)
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "article reviews (dare)"
A limit to Article Reviews restricts your retrieval to those articles for which a review exists in the DARE database. Use this limit if you are interested in restricting your retrieval only to reviews of individual studies or articles.
Article Reviews
(ACP Journal Club)
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "article reviews (acp journal club)"
A limit to Article Reviews restricts your retrieval to those articles for which a review exists in the ACP Journal Club database. In other words, the studies and articles have been reviewed by either the ACP Journal Club or BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine publications. Use this limit if you are interested in restricting your retrieval only to reviews of individual studies or articles.
CheckTags Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "male"

Indexers apply check tags to articles to identify research categories. Categories include research subjects (such as female or adult), research type (such as in vitro), or other specific subject contents of an article. If you choose this option you will be presented with a list of categories from which to select.

Check tags are limited to the following types:

Animals Male
Female Pregnancy
Humans  
Clinical Queries Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "Therapy (sensitivity)"
   

Limiting to Clinical Queries will restrict retrieval clinically sound studies. There are nine categories provided, and the emphasis may be Sensitive (i.e., most relevant articles but probably some less relevant ones), Specific (i.e., mostly relevant articles but probably omitting a few), or Optimized (i.e., the combination of terms that optimizes the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity).

These filters, based on the work of R. Brian Haynes MD, PhD et al. of the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) at McMaster University, are intended for clinicians. A detailed explanation of the strategies behind these limits can be found at http://hiru.mcmaster.ca/hiru/HIRU_Hedges_MEDLINE_Strategies.aspx.

Core Clinical
Journals (AIM)
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "core clinical journals (aim)"
A limit to Core Clinical Journals will restrict retrieval to the 119 core clinical journals which comprise the Abridged Index Medicus collection.

This is a good way to limit your retrieval to journals more commonly found in hospital and medical library collections.

English Language Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to english
Command Syntax: ..l/1 en=y
A limit to English restricts retrieval to articles which are written in the English language. Foreign language articles with English abstracts will be eliminated by a limit to English.
EBM Reviews Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to ebm reviews
Using the EBM Reviews limits via the pulldown will allow you to 'or' together any of the following limits: Cochrane Topic Reviews, ACP Article Reviews or DARE Article Reviews.
Evidence Based
Medicine Reviews
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to evidence based medicine reviews
A limit to Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews restricts your retrieval to those articles or studies that have been included by the Cochrane Collaboration when creating a Topic Review or articles that have been reviewed in the ACP Journal Club or BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine publications or in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE). This limit will also retrieve the Topic Review itself. By their inclusion in these publications, these studies have met strict Evidence-Based Medicine criteria. Use this limit to narrow a large search to only those articles or studies which are considered "Evidence-Based" by experts and for which an article or topic review exists.
Female Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to female
A limit to Female restricts retrieval to documents which are about females, either human or animal.
Full Text Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to full text
A limit to Full Text restricts retrieval to those citations for which there is a full text link. Both Ovid full text and external full text are included in this limit.
Humans Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to humans
Command Syntax: ..l/1 hu=y

A limit to Humans restricts retrieval to articles which are about human subjects. If you limit by Age Group you do not need to use this limit.

Journal Subsets Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "core clinical journals (aim)"
Command Syntax: ..l/1 sb=aim
NLM databases contain several subsets of broad journal categories such as "AIM Journals" or "Dentistry Journals". You can restrict your retrieval to any of these subsets by a limit to journal subset. If you choose this option you will be presented with an alphabetical list of Journal Subsets from which to select.
Languages Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to french
Command Syntax: ..l/1 lg=fre
A limit to Language restricts retrieval to any of the languages indexed by NLM. If you choose this option you will be presented with an alphabetical list of languages from which to select.
Latest Update Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to latest update
New documents are added to the Ovid MEDLINE (R) database at regular intervals. A limit to latest update restricts retrieval to documents which were most recently added to the database.

Local Holdings

Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to local holdings
  A limit to local holdings will restrict retrieval to documents from journals held in your local library or library system.

If your System Administrator has created any special messages about a journal's availability, this message will display with the document in the Local Holdings (LH) field.

Male Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to male
A limit to Male restricts retrieval to documents which are about males, either human or animal.
Ovid Full Text
Available
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to Ovid Full Text Available
A limit to Ovid Full Text Available restricts retrieval to those citations for which an Ovid full text link is available. When viewing a citation with full text available use the LINK button to display the full text.
Pharmacologic Actions Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to pharmacologic actions
A limit to Pharmacologic Actions will restrict your retrieval to all substances known to have a particular pharmacologic action. This includes both MeSH terms and terms for Supplementary Concepts.
Publication Types Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to journal article
limit 1 to clinical trial
limit 1 to clinical trial, all
limit 1 to review
A limit by Publication Type restricts retrieval by any of the over forty publication types indexed by NLM, including classifications such as "bibliography", "classical article", "clinical trial", etc.
Publication Year Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to yr=2006
Command Syntax: ..l/1 yr=2006
You can restrict retrieval to any of the years which this Ovid MEDLINE (R) segment covers. If you choose this option you will be prompted to enter the desired year; the format is 4 digits: "1989" or a range: "1994-1995".
Review Articles Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "review articles"
A limit to Review Articles restricts retrieval to articles which are reviews of a subject. For NLM databases this includes all review types: Review Literature; Review of Reported Cases; Review, Academic; Review, Multicase; and Review, Tutorial.
Status Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to MEDLINE
Limiting to one of the five Status availble will restrict your results to those records containing that status according to the quality control step assigned by NLM.

In Data Review In Process
MEDLINE OLDMEDLINE
PubMed Not MEDLINE  
Subject Subsets Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to Dietary Supplements
limit 1 to Veterinary Science

Limiting to Subject Subsets will restrict retrieval to the specific subject chosen. These Subject Subset limits are based on the Subset limits in PubMed. If you choose this option you will be presented with an alphabetical list of Subject Subsets to choose from.

Topic Reviews
(Chochrane)
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "topic reviews (cochrane)"
A limit to Topic Reviews restricts your retrieval to those articles and studies which were "included" in the creation of a Cochrane review on a topic. These references will be found in the Cochrane systematic review in the "References to Included Studies" and have met the Cochrane Collaboration's Evidence-Based Medicine criteria for inclusion. Use this limit if you are interested in restricting your retrieval only to reviews which have been used in the creation of a Cochrane Topic Review.
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Subject Subset
Ovid MEDLINE includes the following limits based on PubMed's subject subsets. For a detailed explanation of the differences between these limits and the PubMed strategies, see Ovid MEDLINE Subject Limits Overview.
AIDS Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to AIDS
A limit to AIDS restricts retrieval to the area of AIDS. This strategy was based on PubMed's AIDS subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Bioethics Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to bioethics
A limit to Bioethics restricts retrieval to the area of bioethics. This strategy was based on PubMed's Bioethics subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Cancer Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to cancer
A limit to Cancer restricts retrieval to the area of cancer. This strategy was based on PubMed's Cancer subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Complementary
Medicine
Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to complementary medicine
A limit to Complementary Medicine restricts retrieval to the area of complementary and alternative medicine. This strategy was based on PubMed's Complementary Medicine subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Dietary Supplements Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to dietary supplements
A limit to Dietary Supplements restricts retrieval to documents on the area of dietary supplements. This strategy was based on PubMed's Dietary Supplements subset limit.
History of Medicine Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to history of medicine
A limit to History of Medicine restricts retrieval to documents on the history of medicine. This strategy was based on PubMed's History of Medicine subset limit.
Space Life Sciences Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to space life sciences
A limit to Space Life Sciences restricts retrieval to citations of interest to those working in the field of space life sciences research. This strategy was based on PubMed's Space Life Sciences subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Systematic Reviews Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to systematic reviews
A limit to Systematic Reviews restricts retrieval to citations in the area of systematic reviews. This strategy was based on PubMed's Systematic Reviews subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Toxicology Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to toxicology
A limit to Toxicology restricts retrieval to the area of toxicology. This strategy was based on PubMed's Toxicology subset limit, and is available to online customers only.
Veterinary Science Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to veterinary science
A limit to Veterinary Science restricts retrieval to documents on the area of Veterinary Science. This strategy was based on PubMed's Veterinary Science subset limit.
There are range limits for both the RD and ED fields. These limits are not listed in the drop-down menu, however they can be used from the command line. To run the limits use the following syntax from the command line.
limit 1 to ed=20021001-20021115
limit 1 to rd=20021001-20021115
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Clinical Query Limits

Ovid MEDLINE also offers limits to Clinical Queries. These limits restrict retrieval to clinically sound studies. There are nine categories provided, and the emphasis may be Sensitive (as in most relevant articles but probably some less relevant ones), Specific (as in mostly relevant articles but probably omitting a few), or Optimized (as in the combination of terms that optimizes the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity). A detailed explanation of the strategies behind these limits can be found at http://hiru.mcmaster.ca/hiru/HIRU_Hedges_MEDLINE_Strategies.aspx.

The Clinical Queries are based on the work of R. Brian Haynes MD, PhD et al. of the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) at McMaster University, are intended for clinicians.

Sentence syntax for the limits is as follows.

  • limit 1 to "Therapy (sensitivity)"
  • limit 1 to "Therapy (specificity)"
  • limit 1 to "Therapy (optimized)"

A complete list of queries is available from within the Ovid interface.

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Tools

The following Search Tools are available for this database. For specific information on using these tools, refer to the OvidSP Online Help linked below.

  • Tree
    Note: Because MEDLINE includes Check Tags as limits, if you search for any of these terms as an unqualified search in the command line, the results will open a Search History page, rather than the MeSH Tree. The Check Tag terms are listed in the Limit section under Check Tags and Research Support.
    Additionally, some Publication Types are included in the MeSH. See the Publication Types (PT) field description for information on how to search these types.
  • Permuted Index
  • Scope Notes
  • Explode
  • Subheadings
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Changing to this Database

To change a search session to an Ovid MEDLINE segment from another database or Ovid MEDLINE segment, use the change database icon on the Main Search Page.

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Sample Documents
Sample 1
Unique Identifier
   20579803
Version Date
   20091207
Version ID
   PMC2781303.2 
Record Owner
   From MEDLINE, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Status
   MEDLINE
Authors
   Li CS. Schminke U. Tan TY.
Name ID
   NCBI
Authors Full Name Li, Chuei-Shiun. Schminke, Ulf. Tan, Teng-Yeow.
Institution Department of Neurology, Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital, Pingtung, Taiwan.
Title Extracranial carotid artery disease in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with post-irradiation ischemic stroke. Source Clinical Neurology & Neurosurgery. 112(8):682-6, 2010 Oct.
Abbreviated Source Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 112(8):682-6, 2010 Oct.
NLM Journal Name Clinical neurology and neurosurgery
Publishing Model Journal available in: Print-Electronic
Citation processed from: Internet NLM Journal Code df4, 7502039 Journal Subset IM Country of Publication Netherlands Mesh Subject Heading Aged
Carotid Arteries / pa [Pathology]
Carotid Arteries / re [Radiation Effects]
Carotid Artery Injuries / et [Etiology]
Carotid Artery Injuries / pa [Pathology]
*Carotid Stenosis / et [Etiology]
Carotid Stenosis / pa [Pathology]
Case-Control Studies
Female
Humans
*Ischemic Attack, Transient / et [Etiology]
Ischemic Attack, Transient / pa [Pathology]
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / co [Complications]
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / rt [Radiotherapy]
*Radiation Injuries / co [Complications]
Radiation Injuries / pa [Pathology]
Radiotherapy / ae [Adverse Effects]
Retrospective Studies
*Stroke / et [Etiology]
Stroke / pa [Pathology] Abstract
CONCLUSION: Patients who received neck irradiation are at risk for the delayed development of diffused atherosclerosis but also for carotid occlusion within years, although the mechanism remains elusive and probably multifactorial. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Rare Disease Supplementary Concept Nasopharyngeal carcinoma Protocol Supplementary Concept ABDIC protocol ISSN Electronic 1872-6968
ISSN Linking 0303-8467
Publication Type Comparative Study. Journal Article. Language English Electroninc Date of Publication 20100626 Date of Publication 2010 Oct Date Created
20100827 Entry Date 20080421 Update Date 20091215
Sample 2
Unique Identifier
   20728042
Version Date
   20091207
Version ID
   PMC2781303.2
Record Owner From MEDLINE, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Status MEDLINE Authors Antoniou SA. Antoniou GA. Makridis C. Spyrou A. Malkotsi T. Name ID NCBI Authors Full Name Antoniou, Stavros A. Antoniou, George A. Makridis, Charalambos. Spyrou, Anastassia. Malkotsi, Triada. Title Bilateral primary breast lymphoma masquerading as lactating mastitis. Source European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Biology. 152(1):111-2, 2010 Sep. Abbreviated Source Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 152(1):111-2, 2010 Sep. NLM Journal Name European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology
Publishing Model Journal available in: Print-Electronic Citation processed from: Internet NLM Journal Code e4l, 0375672 Journal Subset IM Country of Publication Ireland Mesh Subject Heading Adult
Anti-Bacterial Agents / tu [Therapeutic Use]
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived / tu [Therapeutic Use]
Antigens, CD20 / an [Analysis]
Antigens, CD79 / an [Analysis]
Antineoplastic Agents / tu [Therapeutic Use]
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / tu [Therapeutic Use]
*Breast Neoplasms / di [Diagnosis]
Breast Neoplasms / dt [Drug Therapy]
Breast Neoplasms / pa [Pathology]
Cyclophosphamide / tu [Therapeutic Use]
Doxorubicin / tu [Therapeutic Use]
Female
Humans
Lactation
*Lymphoma, B-Cell / di [Diagnosis]
Lymphoma, B-Cell / dt [Drug Therapy]
Lymphoma, B-Cell / pa [Pathology]
*Mastitis / di [Diagnosis]
Mastitis / dt [Drug Therapy]
Mastitis / pa [Pathology]
Prednisone / tu [Therapeutic Use]
Vincristine / tu [Therapeutic Use] CAS Registry/EC Number/Name of Substance 0 (Anti-Bacterial Agents). 0 (Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived). 0 (Antigens, CD20). 0 (Antigens, CD79). 0 (Antineoplastic Agents). 0 (rituximab). 23214-92-8 (Doxorubicin). 50-18-0 (Cyclophosphamide). 53-03-2 (Prednisone). 57-22-7 (Vincristine). Rare Disease Supplementary Concept Nasopharyngeal carcinoma Protocol Supplementary Concept ABDIC protocol ISSN Electronic 1872-7654
ISSN Linking 0301-2115 Publication Type Case Reports. Letter.
Language English Electronic Date of Publication 20100617 Date of Publication 2010 Sep Date Created 20100823
Entry Date 20101213
Update Date 20101108
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