PubMed uses a mapping process to match search terms to subject headings, drug names (brand & generic), journal names (full & abbreviated), author names, investigators, and more. It also provides an auto-complete feature that displays suggestions as you type search terms, a spell checking feature, a citation sensor, and it sorts search results in order of relevance.
Search for citations on a topic using keywords. Keywords describe the most important concepts of a topic. Scientific names are not required; do not use articles, punctuations, or a question format.
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Refine search results by applying filters. Default filters, located on the Search Results page, include Publication Year, Text Availability, Article Attribution, Article Type, and Publication Date. Tick the box next to a filter to apply it to search results. Additional filters can be viewed and applied by clicking the Additional filters button.
Find citations by an author by searching for the author's last name and initials. Best results are retrieved when the author's first and middle initial are known.
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Find a specific article by searching by article title, or use citation details such as the author, journal name and the year the article was published. The PubMed citation sensor will analyze your search for citation information to return the correct citation.
You can also search by DOI or PMID. This search method will route the searcher directly to the article's Abstract page, if the article is indexed in PubMed.
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You can find a specific article by using PubMed's Single Citation Manager. This tool lets searchers fill-in a short form for searching for an article when some bibliographic information is known.
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