About MEDLINE® and PubMed®: The Resources Guide
MEDLINE® contains journal citations and abstracts for biomedical literature from around the world.
PubMed® provides free access to MEDLINE and links to full text articles when possible.
Search PubMed (including MEDLINE):
The following resources provide detailed information about MEDLINE data and searching PubMed. If you cannot find the information you seek, please contact NLM Customer Support.
News | Overviews | Journals | Data Structure & Content | Data Policies | Searching PubMed | Tools & Utilities | MEDLINE Statistics | Help & Training Resources
NEWS
- PubMed New and Noteworthy:
List of changes to PubMed by date, with links to the Technical Bulletin. - NLM Technical Bulletin:
The NLM Technical Bulletin is your main source for detailed information about changes and updates to NLM resources, including MEDLINE and PubMed. - NLM-Announces:
NLM e-mail list for announcing important information and changes to NLM systems including PubMed.
OVERVIEWS
- MEDLINE®:
A brief description of MEDLINE, your database of biomedical and life sciences journal citations. - PubMed:
A brief description of PubMed, part of the Entrez retrieval system and your free access to MEDLINE. - MEDLINE, PubMed, and PMC (PubMed Central): How are they different?:
A brief description of MEDLINE, PubMed, and PMC. - MeSH®:
To help you understand NLM's controlled vocabulary thesaurus. Helpful for searching NLM's databases. See also Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®)in MEDLINE®/PubMed®: A Tutorial and Branching Out: The MeSH Vocabulary (instructional video). - Indexing FAQ:
How indexing is done at NLM, and information on becoming an indexer. - Special Collaborative Arrangements:
An explanation of NLM's special collaborative arrangements for selecting publications.
JOURNALS
- MEDLINE Journal Selection:
How journals are selected for the MEDLINE database. See also the FAQ: Journal Selection for MEDLINE Indexing at NLM.- Journals Recently Accepted by NLM for Inclusion in MEDLINE:
Those titles recently accepted by the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC). - MEDLINE Selection Statistics
Statistics on journal titles reviewed and selected by the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC) by date, country, and format.
- Journals Recently Accepted by NLM for Inclusion in MEDLINE:
- List of MEDLINE Journals:
How can I find the list of journals indexed in MEDLINE?
- List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE:
A list of currently indexed titles, dynamically generated from the NLM Catalog. - List of Serials Indexed for Online Users:
A list of titles formerly and currently indexed in MEDLINE.
- List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE:
- List of Journals in PubMed: How can I find the list of journals included in PubMed?
- Journals regularly added to PubMed
A list of currently indexed MEDLINE journals and journals currently being added to PubMed Central (PMC), dynamically generated from the NLM Catalog. See the PMC Journal List for more information. - Journals cited, even once, in PubMed
This list includes MEDLINE and non-MEDLINE titles, including journals whose content is deposited in PMC (PubMed Central) to satisfy public access requirements.
- Journals regularly added to PubMed
- Journal and Citation Subsets:
The table of subset codes assigned to MEDLINE citations. See also Abridged Index Medicus (AIM or "Core Clinical") Journal Titles. - Journal Subject Terms:
Subject Terms are assigned by NLM at the journal level to describe each MEDLINE journal's overall scope. - Construction of National Library of Medicine Title Abbreviations
The rules currently used by NLM to construct title abbreviations for journals indexed in PubMed. - MEDLINE Policy on Indexing Electronic Journals:
NLM policy for indexing, access, and preservation of articles from electronic journals.- MEDLINE Journals Indexed from the Online Version:
A list of journals indexed from the online version, with additional information on searching for online journals with LocatorPlus.
- MEDLINE Journals Indexed from the Online Version:
- Ceased Abstracting and Indexing Publications Containing MEDLINE Citations:
Details about the MEDLINE and non-MEDLINE content of the Hospital Literature Index, the Hospital and Health Administration Index, the Index to Dental Literature, and the International Nursing Index.
DATA STRUCTURE & CONTENT
- MEDLINE/PubMed Detailed Field/Data Element Descriptions
Descriptions of the fields in MEDLINE/PubMed records, with detailed historical information, when available. - MeSH Subheadings Table (from PubMed Help):
The MeSH subheadings and their abbreviations. See also the MeSH Qualifiers (subheadings) Hierarchies. - PubMed Publication Types (from PubMed Help):
The publication types used in MEDLINE/PubMed. See also the Publication Characteristics (Publication Types) Scope Notes for definitions of publication types used in all NLM databases. - Languages in MEDLINE/PubMed:
A list of language codes and translations used in MEDLINE/PubMed. - PubMed Citation Status Subsets (from PubMed Help):
A list of status designations for PubMed records. - Journal and Citation Subsets:
The table of subset codes assigned to MEDLINE citations. See also Abridged Index Medicus (AIM or "Core Clinical") Journal Titles. - Grant Number Information Found in the GR Field:
The abbreviation, acronym and name for Institutes and Grants found in the ID field in MEDLINE. - Structured Abstracts:
A description of structured abstracts and how they are formatted for MEDLINE. - PubMed Character Conversions:
How special characters are translated in PubMed. - Code Designations for Greek Characters in the Gene Symbol Field:
How Greek characters are represented in MEDLINE in the Gene Symbol field (used only 1991-1995). - Special Collaborative Arrangements:
An explanation of NLM's special collaborative arrangements for selecting publications. - NLM DTDs:
A DTD (Document Type Definition) defines the building blocks of an XML document. It defines the document structure with a list of allowable elements. These are the DTDs that define NLM's XML data. See also NLM Data Distribution. - MEDLINE Databank Sources:
Names that appear in the DataBankName element in the XML version of the citation and the Secondary Source ID [SI] element in the PubMed MEDLINE display. - Space Life Sciences:
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), in conjunction with the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) SPACELINE Office, provided access to the published literature of space flight and ground-based life sciences research via several resources.
DATA POLICIES
- MEDLINE/PubMed Detailed Field/Data Element Descriptions:
Descriptions of the fields in PubMed/MEDLINE records, with detailed historical information, when available. (Note: This document contains policy information for selected data elements.) - Annual MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities:
A description of the annual maintenance, known as year-end processing, done primarily to update MEDLINE citations to the forthcoming year's version of MeSH. - Article Versions and MEDLINE/PubMed Citations
What is and is not a versioned citation from the National Library of Medicine point of view. - Authorship in MEDLINE:
Information on how authorship is reflected in MEDLINE. - Clinical Trial Registry Numbers in MEDLINE/PubMed Records:
Clinical trials information in MEDLINE/PubMed records. - Conflict of Interest Disclosure and Journal Supplements in MEDLINE:
The conditions under which supplements are cited and indexed for MEDLINE. - Construction of National Library of Medicine Title Abbreviations:
How journal title abbreviations are constructed. - Copyright Information & Downloading National Library of Medicine Data:
Guidance for redistribution of MEDLINE/PubMed and other NLM data. - Errata, Retraction, Partial Retraction, Corrected and Republished Articles, Duplicate Publication, Comment, Update, Patient Summary and Republished (Reprinted) Article Policy for MEDLINE:
NLM policies on these publication events. - MEDLINE/PubMed Journal Article Citation Format:
Background on the citation style used in MEDLINE/PubMed. See also Sample References (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals) - Multiple Language Translations of Online Journals and Indexing English Editions of Journals:
MEDLINE/PubMed includes a language field for identifying the languages in which an article is published. - Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives: By Organization:
A chart of the major biomedical research reporting guidelines that provide advice for reporting research methods and findings. - Structured Abstracts:
A description of structured abstracts and how they are formatted for MEDLINE.
SEARCHING PUBMED
(See also Help and Training Resources)
- PubMed Search Field Descriptions and Tags (from PubMed Help):
A table of all searchable fields in PubMed. - MeSH Qualifiers (Subheading) Hierarchies:
Subheadings arranged in their logical hierarchical groupings, or families. Searching a broader subheading in PubMed will automatically search more specific subheadings. - PubMed Subject Filters:
The search strategies for each PubMed subject filter. - Clinical Queries Filter Table:
Search filters for each clinical and medical genetics category for the PubMed Clinical Queries. - Special Queries:
A directory of topic-specific PubMed queries. - Journal and Citation Subsets:
The table of journal and citation subset codes assigned to MEDLINE citations . See also Abridged Index Medicus (AIM or "Core Clinical") Journal Titles. - Journal Subject Terms:
Subject Terms are assigned by NLM at the journal level to describe each MEDLINE journal's overall scope. - Funding Support (Grant) Information in MEDLINE/PubMed:
An explanation and statistics of research funding support information on MEDLINE citations. - Computation of Similar Articles:
A white paper that explains the function of the Similar Articles feature. - What are the date ranges for past MeSH Indexing years?
Information about the date ranges for indexing with MeSH. Includes tips for searching.
TOOLS & UTILITIES
- The Insider's Guide to Accessing NLM Data
The Insider's Guide is a series of educational resources to help users explore more powerful and flexible ways of accessing NLM data, with a focus on accessing PubMed data via the E-utilities API. - E-Utilities Quick Start:
The Entrez Programming Utilities (or E-Utilities) provide a method for accessing Entrez (including PubMed) data outside of the regular Web query interface. - LinkOut:
The service that links PubMed records to full text providers and other external resources related to the citation. - NLM Data Distribution:
Information on downloading bulk MEDLINE/PubMed and other NLM data. - PMCID/PMID/NIHMSID Converter:
Convert PubMed IDs to PubMedCentral IDs or NIH Manuscript System IDs. Convert PubMedCentral IDs to PubMed IDs.
MEDLINE® STATISTICS
- MEDLINE PubMed Production Statistics:
Citations indexed, journal titles, number of searches, Web/Interactive, and Script/E-Utilities. - Key MEDLINE Indicators (Archived Version):
Citations indexed, number of searches, journal titles, citations keyboarded, OCRed and retrieved via XML; retractions, errata and comments. - Number of Titles Currently Indexed (Archived Version):
The number of journal titles currently indexed for MEDLINE in PubMed. - MEDLINE Selection Statistics:
Statistics on journal titles reviewed and selected by the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC) by date, country, and format. - Citations Added to MEDLINE by Fiscal Year:
Total of indexed citations by fiscal year. - Funding Support (Grant) Information in MEDLINE/PubMed:
An explanation and statistics of research funding support information on MEDLINE citations. - Statistical Reports on MEDLINE/PubMed Baseline Data:
Total citations containing each data element; total occurrences of each element; minimum/average/maximum occurrences of each element in a record; minimum/average/maximum length of a single element occurrence; average record size; and other statistical data describing the content and size of the elements. Various data from 2002-.- Selected Statistics:
- Citation Counts by Year of Publication:
Total number, number published in the U.S., and percent published in the US for each year of publication. - Authors per Citation:
Number of personal authors and collective authors per citation, and trends over time. - Number of Citations to English Language Articles; Number of Citations Containing Abstracts:
By date ranges, the number and percent of citations to English language and non-English language articles, and number and percent with abstracts.
- Citation Counts by Year of Publication:
- Selected Statistics:
HELP & TRAINING RESOURCES
- PubMed Online Training Resources:
PubMed tutorials, Quick Tours, classes and more. See also NLM's Learning Resources Database. - Classroom Training (National Network of the National Library of Medicine Training Office):
Free PubMed courses available for health sciences librarians and information specialists in the United States. - Frequently asked questions about MEDLINE, PubMed and PubMed Central (PMC):
NLM Support Center Knowledge Base on literature resources from NLM. - PubMed Help:
Searchable Help document for PubMed, available on the NCBI Bookshelf.
News | Overviews | Journals | Data Structure & Content | Data Policies | Searching PubMed | Tools & Utilities | MEDLINE Statistics | Help & Training Resources
Last Reviewed: June 4, 2019