PubMed Overview
Introduction
PubMed is a comprehensive, free online resource developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The primary goal of PubMed is to support the search and retrieval of biomedical and life sciences literature, aiming to improve health globally and personally.
Key Features
Extensive Database
PubMed contains over 37 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature, covering a wide range of fields including biomedicine, health, life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering.
Components of PubMed
- MEDLINE: The largest component of PubMed, consisting of citations from journals selected for MEDLINE, indexed with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and curated with various metadata such as funding, genetic, and chemical information.
- PubMed Central (PMC): A full-text archive that includes articles from selected journals, as well as individual articles collected in compliance with funder policies. PMC provides access to both current and historical articles.
- Bookshelf: A full-text archive of books, reports, databases, and other documents related to biomedical, health, and life sciences.
Functionality
Search Capabilities
PubMed offers advanced search features, including:
- Auto Term Mapping: Automatically links search terms to relevant MeSH terms and subheadings, enhancing the sensitivity of searches and reducing false-negative results. This feature is enabled by default in free text searching but can be disabled using exact phrase searching or field labels.
- Clinical Query Filters: These filters are designed to retrieve relevant articles that answer clinical questions about therapy, diagnosis, etiology, or prognosis. Recent updates include filters for COVID-19 articles and systematic reviews.
Personalization and Tools
- My NCBI: An optional facility that allows users to save searches, filter search results, set up automatic email updates, save sets of references, and configure display formats. This feature is accessible from any computer with web access.
Access to Full Text
While PubMed itself does not include full-text journal articles, it often provides links to the full text when available from other sources such as the publisher’s website or PubMed Central (PMC). Users affiliated with certain institutions, like NYU Health Sciences Library, can also access full-text articles through their library subscriptions.
Additional Resources
- PubMed User Guide: Provides detailed information on how to search the PubMed database effectively.
- MEDLINE and PubMed Resources Guide: Additional documentation available from NLM for further guidance on using PubMed resources.
Updates and New Features
PubMed has been continuously updated to improve functionality and add new features, such as search statements to identify COVID-19 articles and a new publication filter to retrieve early-release preprints. These updates enhance the ability of clinicians and researchers to obtain real-time answers to important clinical questions.
In summary, PubMed is an indispensable tool for anyone seeking to explore the vast landscape of biomedical and life sciences literature, offering robust search capabilities, extensive databases, and personalized tools to facilitate comprehensive and efficient research.