If you are using OCOM's special URL to access PubMed, you will see a 
icon when looking at an article record. Clicking on this button will use our Article Full Text Finder. If we have full text in another database, then you will be routed to this resource to get the full text. If we do not have access to this title, then you will see a link to request the article via Interlibrary Loan. This is a free service, and takes approximately 1-3 days to receive an article
There are a number of filtering options in Pubmed, but by default, only a few of them are shown. The most common filter you might want to add is the Language filter. This will allow you to filter out articles in languages that you cannot read. To show additional filter options, click on the Show additional filters option, and select the filters you want to use.
NOTE: Clicking on the Show button does not activate your filters, but just adds them as an option to your filter list. You still need to select a filter to activate it!
Okay, let's do a walkthrough. Let's say you want to only see Case Studies. You look in the Article Type filter, but there is no case study filter. To fix this, click on the Additional Filters button.
Click the filters you'd lilke to add, and then click the Show button.
This does not activate the filter -- it just adds it to you list of options. You need to click the box to activate the filter. Once you do this, your search results will automatically refresh with the newly applied filter.
If you see an article title that is surrounded by brackets [like this], this is a quick indicator that the article is written in a language other than English. The following article record from Pubmed is for a Chinese-language article:
[Query of simple position method at Yaoyangguan (GV 3)].
Liu M, Yang D, Yang W.
Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2015 Dec;35(12):1308. Chinese. No abstract available.
- PMID:
- 26964189
- Similar articles
If you want to see only articles in English (or any other languages that you can read), use the Languages filter. If you do not see a languages filter, you'll need to select the "Show additional filter" option, and select "Languages."
PubMed uses "subsets" to organize their ginormous database of journal articles. One of the most helpful tools when searching for historical articles in Pubmed's database is the use of their History of Medicine subset.
The easiest way to search PubMed's History of Medicine subset is to add history[sb] to your search. [sb] means subset, so history[sb] is just a way of telling Pubmed in computer-speak to search the history subset. So if you were searching for articles on acupuncture history, you would search:
acupuncture AND history[sb]
You can also search this subset by simply selecting it as a filter. On the filters sidebar, click on the history filter. This will search all articles tagged under the topic of History of Medicine.
NOTE: This filter only shows up if you use OCOM's special URL.
If you are using OCOM's special URL to access PubMed, you will be given an additional filter option to view only items owned by the OCOM Library. This filter is a great option if you need your article immediately, as it saves you the time of sifting through articles that are not immediately accessible.
Some journals use their online platforms to electronically publish journal articles that have been accepted for print publication but have not yet come out yet. These articles are considered "ahead of print" articles, and even though the print edition has not come out, subscribers can often read the electronic version ahead of time.
Pubmed indexes "ahead of print" articles, but because they have not been published yet, there is often difficulty in linking out to the full-text. If you find an "ahead of print" article and there is no link to the full text, you can check the Journal Full Text Finder to see if we have access to the journal. If we do not, you can place an Interlibrary Loan request, though some publishers have lending restrictions on "ahead of print" article. There is no definitive answer on this issue, and each title needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Getting weird results? Pubmed automatically transforms your search results into Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). You can check to see exactly what is being searched in Pubmed by clicking the "Advanced" button immediately below the search bar.
Scroll down to your search history, and click on the Details dropdown. This will expand to show the advanced boolean search string that is being used in this search. If you want to edit this, simply copy and paste the boolean search into the Query box and simply remove any unwanted fields.