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Searching the Literature

Advanced Techniques to Improve Search Results

  • Before using advanced search techniques, start with an exploratory search in PubMed to identify relevant articles and gather synonyms.
  • Using advanced techniques too early can hinder your success in gathering alternative terms.
  • Once you've refined your concepts, apply advanced strategies to improve the precision (or specificity) of your search.

Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to find variations of a word.

  • elder* - this will find results with terms like elder, elderly, etc.
  • fall* - this will find results with terms like fall, falls, falling, fallen etc.
    • Leave out phrases like "falling down", "slip and fall", and "accidental falls" since "fall" is already part of those phrases.
  • environment* - this will find results with terms like environment, environments, environmental, environmentally, etc.
  • therap* - this will find results with terms like therapy, therapies, therapeutic, etc.
(elder* OR old OR older* OR geriatric OR aged) AND (fall* OR trip*) AND (acute care OR emergency OR intensive care OR ICU) AND (interventions OR quality improvement OR medication review OR exercise OR environment* OR vision OR footwear OR therap* OR restraint)

Note: this only works with root words 4 or more letters long. So we cannot add old*, we just have to type out old OR older.

Use quotation marks ″     ″ to link phrases together.

  • When searching for acute care, results may include articles where the words appear separately, such as:
    • Planning Patient Care after Acute Kidney Injury: Not as Easy as It May Seem.
    • Palliative Care in Acute Heart Failure.
  • To ensure the words appear together as a phrase, use quotation marks:
    • Searching "acute care" will only retrieve results where the words appear together in that exact order.
  • This can be combined with the asterisk, for instance "nursing mother*" to find results with mother or mothers
(elder* OR old OR older OR geriatric OR aged) AND (fall* OR trip*) AND ("acute care" OR emergency OR "intensive care" OR ICU) AND (interventions OR "quality improvement" OR "medication review" OR exercise OR environment OR vision OR footwear OR therapy OR restraint))

Note: Be sure your words are always used as a phrase. If you were to try this, for instance, with "elderly patients" you would miss results that mention "patients who are elderly" and other similar phrases.

[tiab] - only find results with this word in the title or abstract

(elder*[tiab] OR old[tiab] OR geriatric[tiab] OR aged[tiab]) AND (fall*[tiab] OR trip*[tiab]) AND ("acute care"[tiab] OR emergency[tiab] OR "intensive care"[tiab] OR ICU[tiab]) AND (interventions[tiab] OR "quality improvement"[tiab] OR “medication review”[tiab] OR exercise[tiab] OR environment*[tiab] OR vision[tiab] OR footwear[tiab] OR therap*[tiab] OR restraint[tiab])

[mesh] - use "smart words" to improve your search

(elder*[tiab] OR old[tiab] OR geriatric[tiab] OR aged[tiab] OR aged[mesh]) AND (fall*[tiab] OR trip*[tiab] OR accidental falls[mesh]) AND ("acute care"[tiab] OR emergency[tiab] OR "intensive care"[tiab] OR ICU[tiab] OR emergency service, hospital[mesh] OR critical care[mesh] OR intensive care units[mesh]) AND (interventions[tiab] OR "quality improvement"[tiab] OR “medication review”[tiab] OR exercise[tiab] OR environment*[tiab] OR vision[tiab] OR footwear[tiab] OR therap*[tiab] OR restraint[tiab])
  • Search the MeSH database to find appropriate MeSH Terms for your search.
  • PLEASE NOTE: Not all concepts have MeSH terms.
    • See the MeSH Database tab on More Terms for more information about MeSH.

IMPORTANT: Other Database-Specific Search Considerations

  • Using [tiab] or [mesh] in CINAHL or Scopus will cause an error.
  • Other databases allow searches by title, abstract, or indexed terms similar to MeSH, but the methods vary widely.

For guidance:

  • Check the Help section of the database you’re using.
  • Contact your librarian for assistance with applying these features.

screenshot of article and abstract in PubMedWhen you find an article that sounds like a good fit

Be sure to check the Similar articles and Cited by sections, when available, to find additional related articles that could also be a good fit for your question.

  • These are not available for all articles, especially newer articles which have not had time to be indexed and/or cited by other authors.

 

🔹 Tip: Look for "Similar", "Related", "Cited by" or "Citations" in other databases, as many besides PubMed have this functionality.

 

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Screenshot of similar articles in PubMedSimilar Articles

These are articles that have similar keywords and MeSH terms as the current article.

  • Often these may also be well-suited for your question.
  • Be sure to click See all similar articles to see more.

 

 

 

 

 

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cited by articles screenshot in PubMedCited By Articles

These are articles that have cited the current article.

  • Think of this as future directions of the article.
  • Be sure to click See all "Cited by" articles to see more.

 

 

 

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Most of these tips work in other databases

Although features vary among databases, most of the information in this guide can be applied to other databases like CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and others.

  • Look for Advanced Search

scopus advanced screenshot

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CINAHL Advanced screenshot

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Remember...

  • Literature searching is an iterative process that involves trial and error. 

  • Your search concepts and terms may change as you find results and refine your search.