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MEDLINE with Full Text: An Introduction

MEDLINE with Full Text is the most comprehensive index of biomedical publications from 1966 to present. It covers more than 3,700 journals in biology, botany, biochemistry, biotechnology, medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and related fields. It offers the same indexing as the free PubMed database, plus full text content from 1,200 journals.

This guide introduces concepts that can help students make the most of their MEDLINE searches.

Starting a Search

Enter words and phrases in the Find box. Put phrases in quotation marks. Use the AND option to make a search that combines two or more concepts. When greater precision is needed, choose the MeSH option in order to choose search terms from an official list of conditions and concepts.

MeSH Searching

Choose the MeSH option to search for official medical conditions and concepts:

Type art therapy in the Browse for box

 

Click on the link for the official MeSH term "art therapy"

 

Each MeSH term has a scope note that describes the meaning of the word and a list of subheadings that show related conditions and concepts. Use these notes to pick the best terms for your search. Write down appropriate subheadings in case you need them later. Use the Major Concept option to limit your search results to the most relevant articles.

Select the Major Concept option. Then choose Search Database.

How to Refine Your Search

If you get too many results, use the Refine Search option to limit the scope of the search. Consider these options: (1) choose a language; (2) choose a publication type (case report, clinical trial, review article); or (3) select a journal subset (choose the Core Clinical AIM subset to search the prominent research journals that are likely to be available at UHD or other local libraries). Start with one limit option. Then add other limits if they are needed.

 

Select a language, publication type, or journal and citation subset

 

 

Back to: Research & Writing Tips

 

 

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Last updated or reviewed on 4/2/10

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