Search or Content Questions:

1. What is the MEDLINE^® database?
2. Where does COS get its information for the MEDLINE^® database?
3. How do I access or download the of articles?
4. Nothing appears in the Infotrieve shopping cart. What's wrong?
5. Where can I view a list of journals that have articles available?
6. How do I find information about a specific disease or condition?
7. How often is MEDLINE^® updated?
8. What is the difference between Date Range and Year in MEDLINE^®?
9. What is the difference between searching with MeSH Headings and Full-Text?
10. What does Explode mean?
11. What do the [gold stars] next to some MeSH Headings in a record signify?
12. Can I view a list of journals indexed in MEDLINE^®?
13. My search results look like they are randomly sorted - how does the system determine the order in which results are displayed?
14. Can I order my results by date or other criteria?
15. My search for 'prostate cancer', for example, is not getting as many results as it should - what is the problem?
16. How can I save the search I just did so that I can do the same search in the future?
17. Can I import MEDLINE^® records into citation management packages such as EndNote?
18. There is an error in the information displayed in a specific record; how can I get this corrected?
19. How can I contact the Help Desk directly?

Search or Content Questions:

1. What is the MEDLINE^® database?
   MEDLINE^® is the world's most comprehensive source of life sciences and biomedical bibliographic information. It contains nearly 11 million records from over 7,300 different publications from 1965-present. The database covers the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. Coverage is worldwide, but most records are from English-language sources or have English abstracts.

2. Where does COS get its information for the MEDLINE^® database?
   MEDLINE^® data is compiled and by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) each week and published on the Web by Community of Science.

3. How do I access or download the full text of articles?
   MEDLINE^® itself only contains citation and abstract information. Full text links are available.
   • A small percentage of records contain a button. This button links to the journal publisher's web site. Note, however, that most publishers require a subscription through them to obtain the full-text, and policies and years available vary by publisher and journal.
   • All records contain a button. This links to Infotrieve's document delivery service. A new browser window will open displaying the Infotrieve ordering information. This service is provided by Infotrieve. You will need to contact them directly for any questions regarding an order.

4. Nothing appears in the Infotrieve shopping cart. What's wrong?
   It is most likely a problem with your browser settings. You will need to enable third party cookies in order to use the shopping cart feature. The steps to enable third party cookies are different for each browser. You will need to refer to your browser's documentation for specific instructions.

5. Where can I view a list of journals that have articles available?
   See our Full-Text Journal List to view which journal titles are available in full-text. Note: the list or journals is constantly changing, so this list may not be completely accurate.

6. How do I find information about a specific disease or condition??
   The most accurate method of finding all the records in MEDLINE^® about a specific disease or disorder is to use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). To do so, click on the 'Browse or Search MEDLINE^® by MeSH Terms' option from the main page. If you are unsure of the official MeSH terminology for the disease you are searching for (example: cancer=neoplasm), try searching MEDLINE^® with the term you are familiar with and then go into a record and view the MeSH terms associated with that record - it should list the MeSH version there. Note: COS does not provide medical advice. We do provide access to health and biomedical information through the MEDLINE^® database. Please consult a physician for specific medical advice.
   

7. How often is MEDLINE^® updated?
   MEDLINE^® was last updated on April 22, 2005.

8. What is the difference between Date Range and Year in MEDLINE^®?
   Date Range refers to the date the record was added to the database. Year refers to the actual year the article was published. Most articles are usually added to the database the year of or year after they were published. For example, an article published in November 1999 may be indexed in the 2000 Date Range. You can also search by entry month (month the article was added to the database) using the 'Advanced Search' option. For example, to search for articles added to the database in December 2000 you would type: em=(0012). Consult the Syntax and Field Codes help text linked from the Advanced page for more details. You can search by year of publication (Year) using the 'Main Search' interface. The Year field is located below the MeSH field and to the right of the 'Volume' and 'Page' fields.

9. What is the difference between searching with MeSH Headings and Full-Text?
   The Full-Text field searches on the Title, Abstract, MeSH Heading, and CAS Registry/EC Number fields all at once. This is a free-text field, so you can type any words or phrases you want into this field. If you are unsure what field your term may be used in, try this field first.
   The MeSH Heading field lets you use controlled vocabulary terms assigned by subject analysts from the National Library of Medicine to each record, to locate and retrieve information. The National Library of Medicine has designated more than 19,000 Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) organized hierarchically in up to nine levels. Topics become increasingly specific as you move down the levels of the hierarchy. MeSH headings are the most accurate way to search the database for most terms since the vocabulary is controlled. This means that any concept that has multiple terms used to describe it or has alternate spellings can be found using the one official MeSH term for it (e.g., heart diseases=cardiac diseases). Without this tool, you would have to type in each alternate spelling of a term to insure you retrieved all the possible records (e.g., pediatrics, paediatrics). For more details on using MeSH terms, consult our Help pages.

10. What does Explode mean?
    The 'explode' function in the MeSH heading field refers to an option for expanding your search. MeSH terms are assigned to articles based only on the specific concepts covered. The MeSH vocabulary is arranged into a hierarchy; the more specific terms such as schizophrenia are located under the more general terms such as mental disorders. This allows you to pick a more general MeSH heading and automatically retrieve any of the more specific terms under it in the hierarchy. For example, an article dealing with Somnambulism would contain that MeSH term but would not contain the more general term Sleep Disorders. If you did a search on 'Sleep Disorders' without using the explode function, you would not get all the articles dealing with the more specific types of sleep disorders. If you did use the explode function, all articles about any of the more specific types of sleep disorders would also be retrieved.

11. What do the [gold stars] next to some MeSH Headings in a record signify?
    Those terms with a gold star symbol preceding them are "major" headings. These are terms considered to be the (or part of the) primary focus of the article.

12. Can I view a list of journals indexed in MEDLINE^®?
    Yes. Click on the 'Search Specific Journals' option on the main page. On the next page is a search box to find a specific journal and a link to see the list of Core Journals indexed in MEDLINE^®. To view a complete list of journals in MEDLINE^®, go to this site: ftp://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/J_Medline.txt [note this is a large file and may take a while to load].

13. My search results look like they are randomly sorted - how does the system determine the order in which results are displayed?
    Results are listed according to relevancy, a mathematical score based upon each record's relative match to your search. At present, results cannot be sorted in any other order (such as date or author) unless you import them into a citation management or other software program such as EndNote and use whatever sorting functions are available on that program. For help downloading results into Citation Management packages, view our Printing and Downloading Help page.

14. Can I order my results by date or other criteria?
    No - at present, all results are automatically sorted by relevancy. You can import them into a citation management or other software program such as EndNote and use whatever sorting functions are available on that specific program, however. For help downloading results into Citation Management packages, view our Printing and Downloading Help page.

15. My search for 'prostate cancer', for example, is not getting as many results as it should - what is the problem?
    The problem may be due to the fact that many medical disciplines and concepts have multiple ways of terming or spelling them. For example, prostate cancer is actually listed in the MeSH vocabulary as 'Prostatic Neoplasms'. To get the most accurate and thorough search results, it is recommended that you search using MeSH Headings. If you are unsure of the official MeSH terminology for the word you are searching for, try searching MEDLINE^® in the 'full-text' field with the term you are familiar with and then go into a record and view the MeSH terms associated with that record - it should list the MeSH heading there.

16. How can I save the search I just did so that I can do the same search in the future?
    Use our Query Track tool. This tracks all the searches you have done in your current browser session. You can then save this as a web page on your computer and bring it up at a future time to search against updated data. You can access Query Track from the main page or from the top of any results page.

17. Can I import MEDLINE^® records into citation management packages such as EndNote?
    Yes. For details and step-by-step instructions, see our Printing and Downloading Help page.

18. There is an error in the information displayed in a specific record; how can I get this corrected?
    The National Library of Medicine creates the data that makes up MEDLINE^®. For details on record corrections and how to report an error or omission, go here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/faq.html#ReportingErrors.

19. How can I contact the Help Desk directly?
    The easiest way to contact us is through our COS Help Desk form. Using this form will ensure the quickest response (usually within 1 business day). If you wish to view our detailed Help pages for MEDLINE^®, click on the instructions link at the top of any page in the database.