Abstracts, or summaries, are taken directly from the published article. If necessary, they are shortened to 250 words (400 words if the article is either 10 pages or longer, or comes from a journal designated a core cancer journal by the National Cancer Institute). Starting in 1989, this field may also contain citations to comments about the article in other publications. Records created before 1975 do not contain abstracts.
$$2
Field: ⌡AD≡ Address of Author
Example:
⌡duke in ad≡
Contains the address of the authors' affiliation. Records created before 1988 do not contain this field.
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Field: ⌡AI≡ Abstract Indicator (a limit field; does not display in records)
Example:
⌡ai=ab≡
This search strategy can be used to narrow search results to only those records that contain abstracts. When displaying records retrieved by this search, the AI field will not appear.
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Field: ⌡AN≡ MEDLINE Accession Number (a limit field)
Example:
⌡87128877 in an≡
A unique 8-digit number assigned by NLM to each record added to MEDLINE. The first two digits represent the year of entry.
$$5
Field: ⌡AU≡ Author(s)
Example:
⌡hamilton-ta in au≡
Authors' names are hyphenated and appear last name first, followed by one or two initials. In records created since 1984, if there are more than 10 authors, the tenth author's name is followed by ⌡et al≡. Prior to 1984, all authors were included. The most efficient way to search for an author's name is as a hyphenated, "bound" phrase. To check the exact form of an author's name, select browse index.
$$6
Field: ⌡CM Comments≡
Example:
⌡N Engl J Med in cm≡
This field was created to provide a link between an article and subsequent comments about the article when both are from the same journal.
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Field: ⌡CN≡ Contract or Grant Numbers
Example:
⌡hl26343 in cn≡
Research grant or contract numbers (or both) that designate financial support by any agency of the U.S. Public Health Service or any institute of the National Institutes of Health. Eliminate any spaces, hyphens, or punctuation when searching. Records created before 1981 do not contain this field.
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Field: ⌡CP≡ Country of Publication (a limit field)
Example:
⌡united-states in cp≡
The place (usually country) of publication of the journal. Multi-word place names can be searched either as hyphenated phrases, or by one of the individual words.
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Field: ⌡DI≡ Document Identifier
Example:
⌡93abcd123455 in di≡
This field is a hidden field.
$$10
Field: ⌡GS≡ Gene Symbol
Example:
⌡pyrB in gs≡
Contains the symbol or abbreviated form of gene names as reported in the literature.
$$11
Field: ⌡ISSN≡ International Standard Serial Number (a limit field)
Example:
⌡0735-6757 in issn≡
An 8-digit code unique to each journal. Include the hyphen between the fourth and fifth digits. Not all records include an ISSN; search the title abbreviation from the ⌡SO≡ field for more complete results.
$$12
Field: ⌡LA≡ Language (a limit field)
Example:
⌡french in la≡
⌡non-english in la≡
The language of the article. If the language is not English, the word "non-English" appears in this field in addition to the name of the language. Almost all articles indexed in MEDLINE Professional are in English.
$$13
Field: ⌡MESH≡ Medical Subject Headings
Example:
⌡depressive-disorder* in mesh≡
Controlled vocabulary terms or subject headings assigned by indexers at NLM, used to group documents on similar topics. Searching ⌡in mesh≡ retrieves all records containing a heading; searching ⌡in mjme≡ finds references to articles in which the heading is a central concept. Search as hyphenated, "bound" phrases or as individual words; the most efficient search for a multi-word heading is with hyphens. Truncate with * to retrieve a heading with all possible subheadings. Hyphenate one-word headings, e.g. ⌡heart- in mesh≡ to limit search to a single-word heading. See ⌡Guide:Terminology≡ for other important information about MeSH headings.
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Field: ⌡MIME≡ Minor MESH Headings
Examples:
⌡depressive-disorder* in mime≡
⌡sleep-deprivation in mime≡
Controlled vocabulary terms or subject headings assigned by indexers at NLM, used to group documents on similar topics. Searching ⌡in mesh≡ retrieves all records containing a heading; searching ⌡in mjme≡ finds references to articles in which the heading is a central concept. Search as hyphenated, "bound" phrases or as individual words; the most efficient search for a multi-word heading is with hyphens. Truncate with * to retrieve a heading with all possible subheadings. Hyphenate one-word headings, e.g. ⌡heart- in mesh≡ to limit search to a single-word heading. See ⌡Guide:Terminology≡ for other important information about MeSH headings.
$$15
Field: ⌡MJME≡ Major MESH Headings
Example:
⌡sleep-deprivation in mjme≡
Controlled vocabulary terms or subject headings assigned by indexers at NLM, used to group documents on similar topics. Searching ⌡in mesh≡ retrieves all records containing a heading; searching ⌡in mjme≡ finds references to articles in which the heading is a central concept. Search as hyphenated, "bound" phrases or as individual words; the most efficient search for a multi-word heading is with hyphens. Truncate with * to retrieve a heading with all possible subheadings. Hyphenate one-word headings, e.g. ⌡heart- in mesh≡ to limit search to a single-word heading. See ⌡Guide:Terminology≡ for other important information about MeSH headings.
$$16
Field: ⌡NM≡ Name of Substance
Example:
folic-acid in nm≡
The NM field contains the name of the (chemical or enzyme) substance in words. Multi-word substances can be searched either as hyphenated "bound" phrases or as individual words.
$$17
Field: ⌡PS≡ Personal Name as Subject
Example:
⌡freud-s in ps≡
When an article contains a biographical note or obituary, or is entirely about an individual's life or work, the name(s) of the subject(s) are in this field. Names are hyphenated and appear last name first, followed by one or two initials. The most efficient way to search for a name is as a hyphenated, "bound" phrase. To check the exact form of a name, consult the index.
$$18
Field: ⌡PT≡ Publication Type
Example:
⌡editorial in pt≡
Characterize the nature of the information or the manner in which it is conveyed. Some examples of publication types are abstract, monograph, review, etc.
$$19
Field: ⌡PY≡ Publication Year (a limit field)
Example:
⌡py=1988≡ or ⌡1988 in py≡
⌡py >=1985≡
⌡py=1988-1989≡
The year in which the journal issue was published. Can be used to limit your search to a single year or range of years.
$$20
Field: ⌡RN≡ CAS Registry Number or EC Number
Example:
⌡59-30-3 in rn≡
⌡3.1.3.9 in rn≡
For chemical substances, the ⌡RN≡ field contains the unique 5- to 9-digit number assigned to the substance by Chemical Abstracts Service. For enzymes, the ⌡RN≡ field contains the EC number derived from enzyme nomenclature. When searching CAS numbers, include hyphens wherever they occur. Include periods and hyphens in EC number searches, but omit a period if is the last character.
$$21
Field: ⌡SB≡ Subset (a limit field)
Example:
⌡aim in sb≡
nursing in sb
dental in sb
The word ⌡aim≡ in this field indicates that the journal is indexed in the abridged edition of ⌡Index Medicus≡. If your library has a small collection of medical journals, combining search terms with ⌡and aim in sb≡ increases your chances of retrieving items held by the library. The word ⌡nursing≡ appears in this field if the article is from a nursing journal, and the word ⌡dental≡ appears if the article is from a dental journal.
$$22
Field: ⌡SH≡ Subheadings
Example:
⌡chemistry in sh≡
Subheadings are removed from the main heading.
$$23
Field: ⌡SI≡ Secondary Source Indicator
Example:
⌡genbank in si≡
The format for this field is Databank Abbreviation/Accession Number.
$$24
Field: ⌡SO≡ Source (Bibliographic Citation)
Example:
⌡j-am-dent-assoc in so≡
⌡ann-o* in so≡
This field contains the complete bibliographic citation, including: journal title abbreviation, date of publication, volume number, issue number, and pagination. Only the journal title abbreviation can be searched. It must be searched as a hyphenated, "bound" phrase. Type the complete hyphenated abbreviation exactly as found in the ⌡INDEX≡; or truncate with ⌡*≡.
$$25
Field: ⌡TG≡ Checktags (a limit field)
Example:
⌡in-vitro in tg
tg=in-vitro≡
The TG field contains special descriptors called checktags, which are topics of potential interst, regardless of the general topic of the article. Search multi-word checktags with hyphens but excluding other punctuation. The checktags in MEDLINE are:
Animal
Case-Report
Comparative-Study
Female
Human
In-Vitro
Male
Support-Non-US-Govt
Support-US-Govt-Non-PHS
Support-US-Govt-PHS
$$26
Field: ⌡TI≡ Title
Example:
⌡alcoholism in ti≡
The title of the article. All titles appear in English; titles originally published in a foreign language and translated for MEDLINE are enclosed in brackets.
$$27
Field: ⌡TO≡ Original Title
Example:
⌡proteine in to≡
For titles published in a foreign language, this field contains the title in the original language. Non-Roman alphabet language titles are transliterated.
$$28
Field: ⌡UD≡ Update Code (a limit field)
Example:
⌡9003 in ud≡ [added March, 1990]
⌡ud=9003≡ [same as above]
⌡ud>9001≡ [added after Jan., 1990]
⌡ud=9001-9003≡ [added between January and March, 1990]
Month of entry into MEDLINE, in YYMM form. Corresponds to the month of publication of the printed ⌡Index Medicus≡.
