A roadmap for searching literature in PubMed: tiab-terms

When running queries in PubMed you not only search for keywords [MeSH], but also for free text terms. This is important for a number of reasons.

• You will find articles that have not yet been indexed in PubMed: MeSH terms have not yet been assigned to them.
• It is not possible to cover all concepts with a single MeSH term.
• A MeSH term may not have been assigned to articles, despite the fact that they are related to the topic.

In your query, use the [tiab] field code after each free text term. This will restrict your query to search in the title or abstract of the articles. These are the fields in an article citation that you will use when you select relevant articles. By using both MeSH and tiab terms, you will increase the likelihood of finding all relevant articles.

Try to think of as many free text terms as possible. This will be beneficial for your search results, producing more relevant articles. Keep the following in mind:

Tips for choosing free text terms:

• Look for words used in the abstracts of relevant articles. 
• Use dictionaries and other reference materials as a source of inspiration.
• Use the MeSH database: the Entry Terms are synonyms. Use them as tiab-terms. See also the box '"Tips: the entry terms".

If you do not use [tiab] after a term, PubMed will create its own query based on your term. This operation is known as 'automatic term mapping'. Usually, this is not a problem. But sometimes this goes wrong.

Example: a wrong translation in PubMed

• Go to the Advanced Search
• Typ in the Query box: Nursing
• Click on the arrow next to the Search Button: Add to History
• Click on Details in the Search History.

As you can see, PubMed also finds "breast feeding" as a synonym for "nursing"

MeSH terms are automatically included in the query. The other terms will be queried in All fields, which includes the journal title, author’s name, address etc. You can only avoid this by collecting the MeSH terms and tiab terms.

If you are unfamiliar with a topic, then you might consider identifying MeSH terms prior to running your query. You will then need to consult the MeSH database to view the terms.

The MeSH database is just one of the tools available for finding terms. When you click on a keyword you will find a number of headings, including Entry Terms. Entry terms are which are the synonyms used for the keyword in question, e.g.
the Entry Terms for Anti-Bacterial Agents:

Building block (including truncation)

"anti-bacterial agent*"[tiab] OR "antibacterial agent*"[tiab] OR "antibiotic*"[tiab] OR "bacteriocidal agent*"[tiab] OR "bacteriocide*"[tiab] OR "anti-mycobacterial agent*"[tiab] OR "antimycobacterial agent*"[tiab]