Health Sciences Literature Searching: Refining MeSh Search

Use the following links to jump to a chosen topic to refine your MeSH search:

Subheadings

Major Topic

Term Trees

Subheadings narrow the use of a MeSH term by specifying the topics included in a search.

Major Topic limits the number of results by selecting articles that list a particular subheading as its main topic.

After the MeSH term's definition are its Subheadings:  related topics or influencing factors.

Click the box next to the Subheading and "Add to Search Builder" to include it.

Click "Search PubMed" to finish.

Major Topic is a Subheading limiter. Clicking the box next to "Restrict to MeSH Major Topic" excludes all articles that do not list a subheading as its main topic, shrinking your search.

Click "Add to Search Builder" and "Search PubMed" to finish.

To undo adding a subheading click the text box and delete the text in the PubMed Search Builder.

A term tree lists MeSH terms that are related to each other. Broader terms contain narrower terms.

MeSH term trees are shown at the bottom of the page and shows terms for topics that are broader or narrower than the one you chose. If a term is specific, then it retrieves fewer articles. If it is broad, it retrieves more articles.

For example, "Pregnancy" is narrower than "Reproduction" but broader than "Pregnancy in Adolescence".

If you decide to research a broader topic, such as general reproduction, click the name of the subheading ("Reproduction") and click "Add to Search Builder" and "Search PubMed" to finish.

If you decide to research a narrower topic, click the name of the subheading that is indented further ("Pregnancy in Adolescence") and click "Add to Search Builder" and "Search PubMed" to finish.

To undo adding a subheading click the text box and delete the text in the PubMed Search Builder.

If you're confused about using PubMed, look for the "Help" link for more information.

You can also Ask A Librarian any time of day for help.