National Library of Medicine | PubMed Proximity Searching @NLMNIH | Uploaded October 2024 | Updated October 2024, 11 hours ago.
This tutorial demonstrates how to use proximity searching to find terms close to each other in PubMed. Search for multiple terms appearing in any order within a specified distance of one another in the [Title], [Title/Abstract], or affliliation [ad] fields. For more educational materials on PubMed, see PubMed Online Training at nlm.nih.gov/oet/ed/pubmed/.
Transcript:
(music)
In this tutorial you will learn how to use proximity searching in PubMed.
Proximity searching allows you to search for terms that are close to each other.
For example, to find variations of a phrase.
Let’s say you are searching for variations of the phrase healthcare rationing.
You might want to find: rationing healthcare, healthcare rationing,
rationing of healthcare, or rationing strategies in healthcare.
Proximity searching in PubMed can be used to supplement Medical Subject Heading searches.
In PubMed, you can use proximity searching to search for multiple words appearing in any order within a specified distance of one another in the title field, the title and abstract fields, or the author Affiliation field.
To search for the word “rationing” and the word “healthcare” with no words in between, in the title or abstract fields of the PubMed records, you would type into the search box: “rationing healthcare”[tiab:~0]
Your results include records with: rationing healthcare, and healthcare rationing in the title or abstract.
To search for the word “rationing” and the word “healthcare” with up to one word in between, in the title or abstract fields of PubMed records, you would type into the search box: “rationing healthcare”[tiab:~1]
This would add to your previous search phrases like:
rationing of healthcare, and rationing in healthcare.
To search for the word “rationing” and the word “health care” with up to two words in between, in the title or abstract fields of PubMed records, you would use the same syntax but instead of 1, use the number 2.
This would add to your previous search phrases like: rationing strategies in healthcare.
Using our last example as a template, construct a search for the terms congenital and defect with up to one word in between, in the title field of PubMed.
The title field can be searched with the word title in brackets.
Your results will have records with the terms congenital and defect with up to one word in between, in the title field.
Note that Automatic Term Mapping is not applied to the terms when you do a proximity search.
For comprehensive searches on biomedical terms, you will want to combine proximity searching with other techniques to build your query.
For example, while this search retrieves records with the term “congenital heart defect”…
…there are more than 30 more specific Medical Subject Headings under Heart Defects, Congenital.
You would need to include the MeSH term, either directly or through Automatic Term Mapping, to include these more specific terms in your search.
Proximity searching is a powerful tool that should be used in combination with other searches of PubMed.
For more about proximity searching in PubMed, see the PubMed User Guide.
For expert assistance with your PubMed searches, contact your local health sciences librarian.
This tutorial demonstrates how to use proximity searching to find terms close to each other in PubMed. Search for multiple terms appearing in any order within a specified distance of one another in the [Title], [Title/Abstract], or affliliation [ad] fields. For more educational materials on PubMed, see PubMed Online Training at nlm.nih.gov/oet/ed/pubmed/.
Transcript:
(music)
In this tutorial you will learn how to use proximity searching in PubMed.
Proximity searching allows you to search for terms that are close to each other.
For example, to find variations of a phrase.
Let’s say you are searching for variations of the phrase healthcare rationing.
You might want to find: rationing healthcare, healthcare rationing,
rationing of healthcare, or rationing strategies in healthcare.
Proximity searching in PubMed can be used to supplement Medical Subject Heading searches.
In PubMed, you can use proximity searching to search for multiple words appearing in any order within a specified distance of one another in the title field, the title and abstract fields, or the author Affiliation field.
To search for the word “rationing” and the word “healthcare” with no words in between, in the title or abstract fields of the PubMed records, you would type into the search box: “rationing healthcare”[tiab:~0]
Your results include records with: rationing healthcare, and healthcare rationing in the title or abstract.
To search for the word “rationing” and the word “healthcare” with up to one word in between, in the title or abstract fields of PubMed records, you would type into the search box: “rationing healthcare”[tiab:~1]
This would add to your previous search phrases like:
rationing of healthcare, and rationing in healthcare.
To search for the word “rationing” and the word “health care” with up to two words in between, in the title or abstract fields of PubMed records, you would use the same syntax but instead of 1, use the number 2.
This would add to your previous search phrases like: rationing strategies in healthcare.
Using our last example as a template, construct a search for the terms congenital and defect with up to one word in between, in the title field of PubMed.
The title field can be searched with the word title in brackets.
Your results will have records with the terms congenital and defect with up to one word in between, in the title field.
Note that Automatic Term Mapping is not applied to the terms when you do a proximity search.
For comprehensive searches on biomedical terms, you will want to combine proximity searching with other techniques to build your query.
For example, while this search retrieves records with the term “congenital heart defect”…
…there are more than 30 more specific Medical Subject Headings under Heart Defects, Congenital.
You would need to include the MeSH term, either directly or through Automatic Term Mapping, to include these more specific terms in your search.
Proximity searching is a powerful tool that should be used in combination with other searches of PubMed.
For more about proximity searching in PubMed, see the PubMed User Guide.
For expert assistance with your PubMed searches, contact your local health sciences librarian.
