A roadmap for searching literature in PubMed: Combining

Use AND, OR or NOT to combine keywords.

T1 OR T2	T1 AND T2	T1 NOT T2

Use the Advanced Search  Builder to combine different building blocks.

You can use Advanced Search to create a complete query, but it is far more convenient to use a Word document (your logbook) to develop your building blocks. Every aspect of your query is assigned a building block with MeSH and tiab terms. You can easily combine these building blocks in the Advanced Search Builder.

• Go to the Advanced Search Builder
• Copy and paste your first building block into the Query box and click ‘Add to history' (use the arrow next to Search-button).
• Repeat with the other building blocks.
• Combine the building blocks in the search bar with the Boolean operator AND, for example: #1 AND #2 AND #3.

Copy and paste the Search History from PubMed into your logbook.
For example:

'Nesting' involves placing multiple terms in round brackets (parentheses). This must be done if both AND and OR are used in a single query. For example:

cva[tiab] OR cvd[tiab] OR (cerebrovascular[tiab] AND accident*[tiab]) OR (cerebrovascular[tiab]  AND incident*[tiab])

Be careful where you place the brackets!