TR4100: Introduction to Research Methods

PubMed (MEDLINE) is highly utilized by all types of health care practitioners because it's one of the best places to find original research studies. PubMed is HUGE (over 35,000,000 citations; 2,000-4,000 new citations daily) and it takes some practice to get the best results.

Two basic ways to search PubMed:

1. Try to think of how a researcher would describe your topic in choosing your search terms (keywords). This method is efficient, and can work well when you're not concerned about capturing all/most of the relevant research on a particular topic.

2. If results from your keyword search don't seem relevant or you retrieve too many (or too few) hits, try using PubMed's Medical Subject Headings, or MeSH; the MeSH Database, linked under the PubMed search box, allows you check for appropriate MeSH terms.

This video introduces the basic search features of PubMed. Be sure to always access PubMed from MyBu>Library>Databases, in order to view all the full-text articles the BU Library provides.

Notes:

• Once you set limits (filters), they stay set for future searches unless removed.
• After opening the citation of an article, look for the maroon colored "Bastyr Online" button, to access to full text of the article.