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PubMed 2.0

This Guide is designed to assist users in navigating and searching PubMed since its update in 2020.

Save Citations

Save and Share Citations

PubMed provides several ways to temporarily or permanently save search results, and grant others access to their citations. All saving options are available from the Save, Email, and Send to buttons located beneath the search box on the search results page. See the Track Searches...page in this Guide for information about saving searches. 

Save, Email, & Send To

Save Citations to a File

The Save button lets searchers save citations to a text file. Users can save citations in various formats, including summary, PubMed (information is tagged), PMID list, Abstract (complete abstract), and CSV. 

How-to

Click on a step to view a screenshot.

  1. Tick the check boxes of specific citations of interest (skip this step if you want to save ALL citations on a page or ALL citations of a search)
  2. Click the Save button
  3. Select the citations you want to save 
  4. Select the format 
  5. Click Create file button
  6. Open and save the file to your machine/device

Email Citations

Email citations to yourself or others. Citations are sent from the NCBI automatic mail server [nobody@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]. If you or the person you are emailing citations to do not receive the email, check spam folders or quarantine email notifications.

How-to

Click on a step to view a screenshot.

  1. Tick the check boxes of specific citations of interest (skip this step if you want to save ALL citations on a page or ALL citations of a search)
  2. Click the Email button
  3. Enter an email address
  4. Select the citations you want to save 
  5. Select the format
  6. Click Send email button
  7. The email recipient will receive the email from "Sent by NCBI"

Send Citations

The Send To button provides options for saving citations to PubMed's built-in clipboard, My NCBI account features, or a citation manager, like EndNote.  

  • Clipboard → Saves citations to a temporary clipboard. The clipboard can save up-to 500 citations; it expires after 8 hours of inactivity. (No login required)
  • My Bibliography → Saves citations to the user's My Bibliography accessible by their My NCBI account. (Login required)
  • Collections → Saves citations to My NCBI's default collection, Favorites, or a collection created by the searcher. Searchers can create unlimited number of collections. Collections can be made public for sharing with others. (Login required)
  • Citation manager → Export citations as an .nbib file. This file type can be imported into many citation managers, including EndNote. (No login required)
How-to

Click on a step to view a screenshot.

  1. From the search results page: Tick the check boxes of specific citations of interest...(skip this step if you want to save ALL citations on a page or ALL citations of a search)
Clipboard My Bibliography Collections Citation Manager
  1. Click the Send to button
  2. Select Clipboard
  3. Click the Clipboard link beneath the search box to view saved citations
  1. Click the Send to button
  2. Select My Bibliography
  3. Select the citations you want to save 
  4. Click the Add button
  1. Click the Send to button
  2. Select Collections
  3. Select the citations you want to save 
  4. Create a new collection or add the citations to and existing collection (Favorites is a default collection)
  5. Click the Add button
  1. Click the Send to button
  2. Select the citations you want to save
  3. Click Create file button
  4. Open the file to import the citations into EndNote.

 

Share Single Citations

Share a permalink for a citation.

How-to

Click on a step to view a screenshot.

  1. Select a citation to view its Abstract page
  2. Click the permalink button in the Share section 
  3. Click the Copy button
  4. Paste the permalink in a shared document or email message

 

Share Saved Citations

Share a public URL to a collection of citations. You must be logged into My NCBI to create and share public URLs.

How-to

Click on a step to view a screenshot.

  1. Go to your Dashboard
  2. Locate the Collections window
  3. Click the gear icon of a collection 
  4. Mark the Public option
  5. Click the Save button
  6. Copy the public URL provided near the top of the screen
  7. Paste the URL in a shared document or email message