How to Finalize MeSH terms Guidelines for Searching Articles - Pubrica
                     HOW TO FINALIZE 
MESH  (MEDICAL 
SUBJECT  HEADINGS) 
GTUEIRDEMLINSE S– FOR SEARCHING 
ARTICLES
An Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, 
Technical  Operations, 
Pubrica
Group:www.pubrica.co
m  Email: 
[email protected]
Today's 
DOiustlicnussionIn-Brief
e
Introduction
Guidelines for MeSH Terms
Advanced PubMed Searching with 
MeSH  MeSH terms with 
Subheadings
Major MeSH Terms & Explosion of MeSH 
Terms  Viewing MeSH Headings in a 
Relevant Reference
PubMed's Clinical Queries for Quick Searches for Clinical 
Problems  Automatic Email Updates of Searches/Saving 
Search Strategies  Conclusion
In-
Brief
The National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus is 
 a controlled and hierarchically ordered vocabulary. It's a tool for indexing,  
cataloguing, and searching biomedical and health-related data. The topic  
headings in MEDLINE/PubMed, the NLM Catalog, and other NLM databases are
included in MeSH. Each citation in an article is linked to a collection of MeSH  
words that define the citation's content. You will target your search and find more
important citations using MeSH entry terms instead of keywords.
Introductio
n
The MeSH database is a medical vocabulary  
resource maintained by the National Library of 
 Medicine.
It organises and defines the hierarchy of terms  
used in MEDLINE to describe biomedical data.
When you type your definition words into MeSH,  
you'll get a list of other medical synonyms as well  
as suggestion on how to search PubMed for  
these terms.
Contd...
Since simple search terms only refer to words in the  
paper's database record, not the full text, it's critical  
to look for index terms.
Human indexers keep track of all related words,  
even if they aren't in the title or abstract of a paper.
Indexed terms can also include several entry terms.  
MeSH, for example, indexes the definition of "heart  
attack" as "myocardial infarction."
You risk losing articles that use the word myocardial  
infarction if you only search for "heart attack."
Contd...
Using the index words will help you find articles that  
use the terms "heart attack" and "myocardial  
infarction."
Find good MeSH terms, look up a record for a paper 
 you know you'll use in your review and look through 
 the assigned MeSH terms to see if any are relevant.
Contd...
Guidelines 
for  MeSH 
The NLM Customer Support Center covers a wide  
range of topics related to NLM products. Terms
You may also submit a Journal request for a  
modification or addition to MeSH vocabulary by  
clicking the Write to the Help Desk button.
Please read the instructions below to ensure that  
your request is processed properly.
Contd...
Follow the steps below to help us expedite your request:
Please click: To open a new window or tab with an online request form, write to 
 the support desk.
Enter one of the following as the topic of your request in the Subject box:
1. To propose a new MeSH term or heading, write "New MeSH term" in the 
 subject line.
2. "MeSH word update" for improvements to MeSH terminology.
Contd...
3. "MeSH factual mistake" is used to correct a MeSH definition or context.
4. "MeSH tree update" for corrections or improvements to the MeSH tree hierarchy.
5. None of the above options? You are free to choose your subject.
In the Description box, describe the change or addition to MeSH and any relevant 
 additional details (e.g., the reason for your suggested change; citations to back it 
up).
Please keep in mind that providing your email address will notify you of our actions
Contd...

Advance
d  
The regulated vocabulary or topic heading list of the 
PubMed   National Library of Medicine (NLM) is MeSH.
Searchin Indexers, who are subject analysts who keep the  
g  with PubMed database up to date, use it to represent the  
MeSH subject content of journal articles when they are  published.
Any indexed paper is usually defined by 10–12  
MeSH terms chosen by indexers.
Contd...
You won't have to worry about word variants, word endings, plural or singular  
forms, or synonyms when using MeSH words.
You may use MeSH functionality to customise your searches with subheadings 
 and, if desired, to tag specific MeSH words as the primary focus of the  
references retrieved.
MeSH 
terms  
Tap the drop-down menu beside the search box on 
 the main PubMed page to access MeSH words. with  
Subheadin
When you enter a phrase, the system will show you 
 a list of subject headings with meanings from which  gs
to choose.
To get started, select a MeSH term that interests 
 you. A new window will appear, with the word you  
choose at the top and a list of subheadings below.
Contd...
You may select separate subheadings to explain a specific feature of a topic from 
 this display (diagnosis, prognosis, treatment etc.).
To narrow down your search results, use as many subheadings as you want. 
 Your search results will be more if you select more subheadings.
Major 
MeSH  You'll see a box below the subheading list  where you can "Restrict Search To Major Topic 
Terms &   Headings Only."
Explosion This will limit the search results so that the  
of  MeSH MeSH word you're looking for is the primary  
focus of the references found.
Terms
A hierarchical arrangement of terms relevant to  
the MeSH term you chose can also be found 
 on this page.
This graph depicts the relationship between  
your word and other MeSH terms.
Contd...
MeSH terms in PubMed are immediately  
expanded to include all narrower terms in the  
hierarchical list.
If you don't want the more precise subject  
headings indexed below your term in the list,  
check the box next to "Do Not Explode this 
 term."
Using the "History" tab and combining search  
sets, you can combine MeSH terms with  
connector words "AND," "OR," and "NOT," just  
as you can with simple searching.
Viewing 
If you've found the perfect reference in PubMed,  
you may want to reconsider your search strategy  MeSH  
by looking at how this paper was indexed with  Headings in 
MeSH terms to find other related (and relevant)  
references. a  Relevant  
Reference
You may also use the "Related Papers, Links"  
feature.
When viewing a reference in PubMed, press the  
drop-down menu beside Show to see the MeSH  
words for that reference.
Contd...
Choose the "citation" format, and a list of MeSH words selected by indexers 
 will appear.
Revise your search strategy by searching the MeSH database for
additional  MeSH keywords.
Contd...

PubMed's  
Clinical  
Queries for  Clinical Research Queries in PubMed are pre-  programmed search methods for searching  
Quick PubMed for clinical issues.
Searches  for From the
Clinical  main
PubMed tab,
Problems choose Clinical  
Queries from the blue left sidebar.
Choose one of the three possibilities.
Contd...
You can restrict your search by aetiology, diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis by  
searching by Clinical Study Category.
Look for Systematic Reviews is a search engine that will help you locate  
systematic reviews, meta-analyses, clinical trial reviews, evidence-based  
medicine, consensus growth conferences, and recommendations.
Automatic 
Email  Updates You can save your search strategy (to run at a  
later time) and set up automatic updates of your 
of   search strategy using PubMed's NCBI feature.
Searches/Saving 
This is an excellent service, particularly if you're  
 Search  conducting a literature search as part of a larger 
Strategies  project.
You can save the search strategy for each  
PubMed search so that you can run it again at  
your leisure, or you can have the search run for  
you on a regular, weekly, or monthly basis and  
have the results emailed to you.
Conclusion
If you've finished your search, you'll need to report your  
findings in your article's Methods portion.
Keywords explain the medical principles in papers in 
 the medical literature, much as in a typical study report.
The purpose is reproducibility so that someone else 
 might replicate the concepts and get the same results.
They offer numerous advantages to database creators,  
indexers who cross-index scientific papers, and users  
by facilitating access to sources.
Contd...
As a result, writers must choose correct keywords and  
conform to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).
Many keywords conclude that medical authors should  
be taught how to use MeSH terminology correctly in  
their study and subsequent publications.
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