Searching
Removing Duplicate Records | Reviewing Duplicate Records | Maximum Set Size
Refining Search Strategy
Deduplicating Search Results
OvidSP's multifile search capability lets you search from multiple resources as though they were one. OvidSP carries your query across all resources of the multifile and retrieves results from each.
The same record may be retrieved from more than one resource and appear multiple times in a results set. These duplicate records skew results and clutter your output. OvidSP's deduplication feature allows you to eliminate duplicate records from either one of these two locations: the Search History Window or the Search Results Display.
The de-duplication feature is only available for results sets that have less than 6,000 records. For larger sets, the de-duplicate option is not be available. |
 |
Select the Remove Duplicates option from one of these two locations:
|
|
OvidSP opens the Remove Duplicates page.
1. |
Select a set to deduplicate. |
2. |
Edit field and/or database preferences. |
3. |
Click the Continue button. |
 |
|
| OvidSP ranks results according to field, then database preferences chosen on this page. In our example, we set preferences for records that originate in the Global Health database and have Full Text associated with them. | |
Results are posted to your Search History.
| If OvidSP does not find duplicate records in the results set, it displays a "No duplicates were detected!" in the Search History. |
Even after OvidSP deduplicates a set, you may review the duplicate records and make adjustments. Click the Review Duplicates button in your Search History.
OvidSP opens the Review Duplicates page.
All the results from the original set are displayed here. OvidSP groups pairs of duplicate records first. In addition, OvidSP applies the field and database preferences that you indicated from the Remove Duplicates page. So, a field preference for records with Full Text results in preference given to records that include Full Text in the display. A database preference for Global Health records results in preference given to Global Health records over PsychINFO or OvidMEDLINE in the display.
Preferred and unique records are selected throughout. Eliminated records are displayed, but not selected. Use the record check boxes to revise selections. If you make changes, click the Keep Changes button to create a new results set in your Search History.
The de-duplication feature is only available for results sets that have less than 6,000 records. For larger sets, the de-duplicate link is not available.
| Was this Help context useful? Please let us know by clicking here. Thank you. |