PubMed at the UW

Here we discuss features that have been UPDATED in the new interface but still existed in the old interface. You will find content on basic searching, best match result order, advanced searches, how to refine your search results, and an FAQ page at the bottom. 

For processes and content items that were not in Legacy PubMed and are NEW, please see the New Features page.

In legacy PubMed, the automatic order of your results was based on publication date - showing relevant articles, but prioritizing date over relevance in some cases. The other option, without using filters to refine your results, was to use "Best Match". This ensured that the order of your results reflected relevancy first over date of publication. 

Caution: This means that, although "Best Match" may potentially show a "better fit" for your search, the information may be older than what you need for your research due to field advancements, new trends, or new discoveries. It is a good practice to check both search result orders to understand what the differences are between more current and "more relevant" information.

If you have further questions about what might be best for you or how to navigate this on a particular topic, ask a librarian!

In the new interface, you build your advanced search in the same way at the old search. There are some functionality changes to be aware of.

Updates to this feature include:

• Adding The First Term
  • To add search terms, type your first term into the search bar that says "Enter a search term".
  • Select the "ADD" button to the right of the search bar

• Adding Multiple Terms
  • After you have added your first term, type your second term in the search bar and select the menu arrow
  • Choose "AND", "OR", or "NOT". This is determined on how you want to combine your terms [ex. ((autopsy) AND (forensic)) NOT (trauma), will turn up all articles related to autopsy and forensic analysis but exclude trauma-related articles] 

• Query Box
  •  As you enter search terms, the Query Box below will build and correctly format your search using Boolean operators (AND/OR/NOT). You may manually edit your search before selecting "Search".

• History and Search Details
  • Actions - You may add past searches with any Boolean operator, Delete past searches, or save them to your NCBI account.
  • Details - Shows full search phrasing with Boolean operators and field terms.

Click here to view Legacy PubMed directions.

• Results by Year (Publication Date)
  • In the new interface, PubMed has a tool that allows you to specify the publication years of the results you would like to see.
  • Instead of manually entering the dates, as with the legacy version, now you can move the date range with sliders on a date graphic.
  • Located at the top of the left-hand sidebar. 
  • TO USE:
    • Click and drag one or both circles to the preferred years (OR)
    • Click on a single vertical bar to select a one-year period.
  • NOTE:
    • You may still select articles that were published in the past 1, 5, or 10 years (See under "Publication Date" on the left sidebar)
    • You may expand the tool to stretch across the top of your results for easier selection by selecting the box on the tool that has two arrows. This is the left box of two. 

• Additional Filters
  • There are additional filters including Article Type, Species, Language, Sex, Subject, Journal, and Age.
  • View by selecting "Additional Filters" at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar
  • Select all filters you would like to use and click "Show"
  • These filters are now available for you to use with your results. You must re-click this filter in the main view to apply.

• Format View (Summary/Abstract/etc.)
  • To have your results formatted as summaries or abstracts, select the gear icon on the right-hand side next to where it says "Sort by - Best match/Most recent"
  • Select "Summary" or "Abstract" and adjust the "per page" count if you would like to see more or less results per page.

Click here to view Legacy PubMed directions.