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PubMed - an Introduction

An introduction to and guide for using PubMed - from basic research queries to in depth, personalized information discovery.

Review and Revise a Search

When you conduct a search in PubMed, automatic term mapping may be applied to optimize your results, modifying or expanding your initial search terms.

  • To see exactly how this search has been interpreted (and make adjustments if necessary), go to the Advanced Search page and scroll down to see your search history. Select “details” to view exactly how your search has been interpreted:

a screenshot of an advanced PubMed search displaying interpretation of search terms

  • Click on the three dots under "Actions" and select "add query": this will copy your search strategy into a text box where you can make edits and re-run it.