IACUC searching for alternatives: Step 3b: Searching in PubMed

Example of a PubMed search for a protocol investigating the diagnosis of osteomyelitis in rats, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits using imaging (the same scenario as on page 3A):

1.  Click the Advanced link on the PubMed search page:

2. Enter each group of search terms (original concept and its synonyms) build your search.  Be sure that each group of terms is being added using the default "AND" option after the search bar.  These searches will populate in the query box below the search bar with parenthesis indicating term grouping.

• Entry #1: diagnosis OR assessment
• Entry #2: osteomyelitis
• Entry #3: rat OR guinea pig OR mice OR rabbit
• Entry #4: imaging OR radio OR marker OR biomarker OR noninvasive OR MRI OR tomography OR ultrasound

Please note that "OR" is capitalized for simply to distinguish between search terms and how they are combined.  The search is not case-sensitive.

3.  After you've added your final search terms, click "Search" to see your results.

4.  Return to the Advanced Search page to add terms or filter out terms using "not" as a Boolean operator.  Instead of re-entering your search, you can build onto the search by typing in the search number you want to add onto from your search history into the search box (such as #1 AND ...), or you can click the three dots in the Actions column and select Add query to add your full search back into the query box for editing.

5.  To save a permanent link to your search, there are two options: a) on the search results page, copy the URL in the URL bar, or b) on the advanced search query page, right-click on the hyperlinked results number next to your search history to get the link to each specific search.