Several interesting questions were asked during a recent NIH Library class on PubMed:
Q: How do I use PubMed to monitor grantee publications for my Institute?
A: One way to track grantee publications is to use the Grant Number [GR] tag. The format for the search is instituteacronym [gr]. For example:
niaaa [gr]
niddk [gr]
nimh [gr]
For a list of Institute abbreviations and acronyms, see Grant Number Information Found in the GR Field in MEDLINE®/PubMed®.
You also may search by individual grant numbers to track grants from a particular program. The format is the two-letter Institute designation and the six-digit serial number.
Note that with either search you may miss journal articles in which the author fails to mention the grant support; journal articles in which the author cites the wrong grant number; journal articles not included in PubMed or PubMed Central; monographs; book chapters; conference proceedings; and meeting abstracts.
For more information, see "NIH Grant Numbers in PubMed® Citations" in the May-June 2006 NLM Technical Bulletin.
Q: I know how to use the MeSH Database to find Medical Subject Headings for my search. Do I have to use the MeSH Database to search subject headings? Is there a shortcut?
A: Yes, there is a shortcut: use the MeSH Terms [MH] tag. The search format is MeSHsubjectheading [mh]. For example:
cacao [mh]
cognition disorders [mh]
hypertension [mh]
Typing a subject heading in this format in the PubMed Search Box is the same as searching for the term in the MeSH Database, selecting it, and using the 'Send to Search Box with AND' feature.
If you prefer using the MeSH Database, you can still simplify the search. When you find a subject heading in the Database, click 'Links' on the far right of the screen. Select 'PubMed' from the drop-down menu and the search will be added to the Search Box and processed.
For additional tips on using Medical Subject Headings and the MeSH Database, see the "Medical Subject Headings (MeSH® Vocabulary)," "Searching with MeSH," and "MeSH Database" sections of NLM® Training: PubMed®.
Q: Can you recommend a few ways to search by author?
A: In the PubMed Search Box, type the author's last name followed by a space and one or two initials:
james wallace mj
schweitzer a
zaaijer jh
Click the 'Details' tab to confirm that the search was processed as an author search. For example, you should see james wallace mj[Author] in the Query Translation box for the first search.
To view a list of author names in PubMed, click the 'Preview/Index' tab, select 'Author' from the list of fields, and type an author's last name with or without initials. Click 'Index' to see the list of names. Highlight a name to select it and click 'Preview' to see the number of citations in PubMed with that author's name. To use the name as a search term, click 'Go'; a list of the author's citations displays.
For additional tips, see the Searching by author section of Searching PubMed.
If you have questions about searching PubMed or other resources available through the NIH Library, contact Reference & Information Services at 301-496-1080, email nihlibrary@nih.gov, or Request a Tutorial.