PubMed is a free online database developed by the National Library of Medicine that contains over 20 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE and other sources. The document provides instructions on how to search PubMed effectively, including using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, conducting advanced searches, applying limits, and finding full-text articles. Contact information is also included for medical librarians available to help with PubMed searches.

1. Searching for the Evidence:
PubMed (Medline)
Susan Fowler, MLIS
Medical Librarian
Fowler@wustl.edu
314‐362‐8092
pg: 314‐360‐1069

2. PubMed (Medline)
• Free resource developed and maintained by the
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI),
at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located
at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• 20 million citations for biomedical literature from
MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.
– 5,400 worldwide journals in 60 languages
• Covers 1947 to the present with some older material.

3. Access
Be sure to access PubMed from becker.wustl.edu to take advantage of
library links to full text.

4. Create a My NCBI Account

5. Create a My NCBI Account, cont…

6. MeSH = Medical Subject Headings
Choose MeSH
from
Pull Down Menu

7. MeSH in PubMed
Enter your search terms one at a time…

8. MeSH cont…
Choose the most
applicable
MeSH terms

9. MeSH cont…
You have not searched the literature yet. Searching MeSH is akin to
searching a thesaurus for the best term.
Send to Search Box

10. MeSH cont…
Once you click “Search PubMed” you will have searched that term in all the
citations in the Medline database.
Click “Search PubMed”

11. Advanced Search
Once you have searched each term separately, go to advanced search to
combine them.

12. Advanced Search, cont…
Enter search
numbers and
combine using
Boolean operators.

13. Limits

14. Limits cont…
For the most clinically applicable articles, limit to “Humans,” “English,” and
“Type of Article”

15. Type of Article Suggestions
Tier 1 Tier 2
• Clinical Trial
• Meta‐Analysis • Clinical Trial, Phase I
• Practice Guideline • Clinical Trial, Phase II
• Clinical Trial, Phase III
• Randomized Controlled • Clinical Trial, Phase IV
Trial • Comparative Study
• Controlled Clinical Trial
• Review • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
• Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
• Guideline • Research Support, Non‐U.S. Gov't
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non‐P.H.S.
• Multicenter Study • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

16. Accessing Full‐Text Articles
Avoid clicking on publisher icons unless they explicitly state that they are free or
unless you are willing to pay $ 35.00 ‐65.00 dollars per article.

17. Accessing Full‐Text Articles, cont…
It is likely that your institution’s library has facilitated link‐out in PubMed to link you
directly to articles from journals to which they subscribe to.
It is also likely that your institution’s library has an Inter‐Library Loan service that will
“borrow” the article you want from another library for you for a small charge (certainly
less then $35.00!) or for free.
Contact your librarian and find out what services are available and how to use them.

18. Send To From “Send to” drop
down menu, choose
“E‐mail”
You can email your results to yourself and your colleagues.

19. PubMed (MedLine)
PubMed advantages PubMed disadvantages
– Free to search – Still have to appraise articles
– Searches same content as once located
Ovid MedLine – Adjacency searching is not
available

20. More PubMed Tutorials
PubMed has tutorials available from their site…

21. 20 Minutes
If 20 minutes have passed and you still have not found what you
are looking for, stop and ask for help.
• 660 S. Euclid • St. Louis Children’s Hospital
314‐362‐7085 Lauren Yaeger, 314‐454‐2768
Susan Fowler, 314‐362‐8092 yaegerl@wustl.edu
Pg: 314‐360‐1069
fowler@wustl.edu
• BJ North, Rothschild
Medical Library
Reka Kozak, 314‐454‐7208
kozakr@wustl.edu