Literature Search - How to find the best evidence

Question 1

Boolean operators

Answer 1

Simple words used to refine your search, and
to give more precise results (Pubmed)
- AND
- NOT
- OR

Question 2

AND

Answer 2

Default operator used in PubMed. AND will
automatically be added between your search terms in PubMed.
A AND B.
Only articles where you have both A and B.

Question 3

OR

Answer 3

All articles with either A or B.

Question 4

NOT

Answer 4

A not B: Only articles with A.

Question 5

Quotation marks

Answer 5

Exact phrase search
• Good to find specific article
• Narrows search results
When searching without quotation marks you get all the results for those terms separately.

Question 6

Truncation (*)

Answer 6

Truncation allows to find different word endings and expand your results.
Child*: Children, Childhood.

Question 7

MeSH term

Answer 7

Medical Subject Headings
All terms that can be used to describe what you have in mind.
• Predefined terms in Medline/PubMed
• Hierarchical
• Can be used to expand or refine the search
• Improves specificity and precision of the search

Question 8

Using All Fields vs. MeSH Terms

Answer 8

Recent papers not indexed yet for MeSH terms.

For some key-terms: no MeSH terms - Possible to use all-fields instead.

Question 9

How can you find sources of information from your research question?

Answer 9

Find the PICO and search for those words on Pubmed.