Medline Mnemonics

(For a list of the mnemonics available in ProQuest, see the ProQuest Mnemonics page.)

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Abstract

Search article abstracts for your terms. (Note: When working with AGRICOLA, CINAHL, ERIC and MEDLINE only the AB mnemonic works.)

Valid Forms:
    ABS
    AB
    ABSTRACT

Examples:
    AB(customer delight)

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Age Group

Contains a standardized description of specific age groups related to the content of the document. A record may contain multiple age groups. Use quoted phrase to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    MH

Examples:
    MH("infant")

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Article Title

The title of an article, such as "Peering into the Future of Careers." This search field locates the occurrence of search words in the title of the article.

Valid Forms:
    TI

Examples:
    TI(Future)
    TI(future AND career)
    TI("Peering into the Future of Careers")

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Author

Use to find articles written by an author or reviewer.

Valid Forms:
    AU

Examples:
    AU(Gertrude Enders Huntington)
    AU(Michael Kinsley)

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Author Affiliation

The author affiliation field contains institutional affiliation and address of the first author, and grant numbers. Grant or contract numbers can be searched using the search field tag AA, e.g., AA(LM05545/LM/NLM). All three pieces of the ID field (actual number/grant acronym/ institute mnemonic) are individually searchable. More precise retrieval results from searching on the grant acronym, except in cases where the grant acronym is also state postal code abbreviation.

Use keyword(s) to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    AA

Examples:
    AA(CA)
    AA(AAL)
    AA(Pharmacology)
    AA(North Dakota School)

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Chemical / Substance Name

Used to search CA Index Name of Chemical Substances. This field contains names of naturally occurring or synthetic chemicals and chemical components as described in the document.

Use keyword(s) or phrases to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    CA

Examples:
    CA(acetyl)
    CA("bacitracin methylene disalicylate")

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Citation and Abstract

When you select Citations and abstracts from the drop-down menu, MEDLINE searches the following fields:

• Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
  
• Journals
  
• Authors
  
• Phrase List
  

If the term is not found in any of these, it is searched in all the MEDLINE fields

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Citation Status/Subject Subsets

Used to search Citation Status Subsets and Subject Subsets. The Citation Status Subsets field includes publisher supplied citations (publisher), in process citations (preMedline), MEDLINE citations (Medline), or citations that are out-of-scope for MEDLINE journals.

The Subject Subsets include AIDS, Complementary Medicine (cam), and Toxicology (tox).

Valid Forms:
    SS

Examples:
    SS(com)
    SS(premedline)

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Cited Reference Title

Used to search the titles of articles and documents cited in the Citation/Reference index.

Use keyword(s) to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    CTT

Examples:
    CTT(future AND career)

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Journal Title

Used to search the journal title abbreviation, full journal name, ISSN number, or the Medline code for that journal. If a journal name contains parentheses or brackets, enter the name without the parentheses or brackets (e.g., enter J Hand Surg [Am] as J Hand Surg Am).

Search journal title abbreviation and full journal name as quoted phrase.

Valid Forms:

    SO

Examples:
    SO("J Biol Chem")
    SO("journal of biological response modifiers")
    SO(V10)        will search for Journal with Medline code 'V10'
    SO(0021-9258)

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Language

Used to search Language index. This field contains the language in which the document was published originally. You can select languages from Language field specific index.  (Note: Only the LN mnemonic works with MEDLINE.)

Valid Forms:
    LA
    LN

Examples:
   LA(french)
   LN(french or english)

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MEDLINE Number

Used to search the National Library of Medicine's unique identifier numbers.

Valid Forms:
    ID

Examples:
   ID(99134023)
   ID(20000396)

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MeSH Date

MeSH date is the date, the citation was indexed with MeSH Terms.
Use keyword(s) to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    MD

Examples:
   MD("1960/08/15")
   MD("1962/01")
   MD(1990)

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MeSH Major Topics

Use to search on the main topics discussed in the article, assigned using controlled vocabulary.
Use keyword(s) to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    MJ

Examples:
   MJ(xanthenes)
   MJ("c peptide")
   MJ("abattoirs/legislation and jurisprudence")

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MeSH Terms

The Medical Subject Headings is a controlled vocabulary of biomedical terms, which is used to describe the subject of each journal article in MEDLINE. MeSH terms are arranged hierarchically by subject categories.
Use keyword(s) to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    MH

Examples:
   MH(abbreviations)
   MH("abc transporters")

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Publication Date

Used to search the Publication Date. Use a colon to specify a range of years.

Valid Forms:
    PD

Examples:
   PD(>1998/11/01)
   PD(1999:2000)

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Publication Type

Publication type describes the type of material the article represents (e.g., Review, Clinical Trial, Retracted Publication, Letter).

Valid Forms:
    PT

Examples:
   PT(biography)
   PT("meeting report")
   PT("clinical trial, phase iii")

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CAS Registry Number

Used to search Registry Number index. This field lists a 5-10 digit CAS Registry Number assigned to chemicals mentioned in the document. Use hyphens when searching this field.
Use keyword(s) to search this field.

Valid Forms:
    RN

Examples:
    RN(100-75-4)
    RN(99936-93-3)

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Secondary Source

The SI field identifies secondary source databanks and accession numbers of molecular sequences discussed in MEDLINE articles. The field can also be searched on source, followed by a slash, followed by an accession number; or by searching on the source or accession number, e.g., SI(genbank), SI(AF001892), SI(genbank/AF001892). Secondary Source ID data is displayed in the record under the fields Seconadary Source (Databank) and Secondary Source (Accession No.).

Valid Forms:
    SI

Examples:
   SI(D00120)
   SI(genbank)

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Subheading

Use in combination with the MeSH terms to further describe the focus of the document.

Valid Forms:
    SH

Examples:
   SH("adverse effects")

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Subject Terms

Use the Subject search field to look for articles about a specific subject.

Valid Forms:
    SU

Examples:
    SU(Music)
    SU(venture capital companies)
    SU(Health Care)

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Subset / Journal Subset

Used to search Subset index. These are subsets of journals categorized by factors such as subject, geographic location, and so on. You can use the following subsets to help refine your search strategy:

• Africa
• Allied Health
• Alternative Complementary Therapies
• Asia
• Australia & New Zealand
• Biomedical
• Canada
• Computer Information Sciences
• Consumer Health
• Core Nursing
• Europe
• Health Promotion Education
• Health Services Administration
• Mexico & Central South America
• Nursing
• Online
• Peer Reviewed
• UK & Ireland
• USA

Valid Forms:
    SS

Examples:
    SS(Nursing)
    SS("Health Services Administration")
    SS("Peer Reviewed")

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Substance name

Used to search the name of a chemical discussed in the article. Synonyms to the Supplementary Concept Substance Name are automatically mapped for the query. This field was implemented in mid-1980. Many chemical names are searchable as MeSH terms before that date.

Valid Forms:
    SN

Examples:
    SN("atorvastatin")

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Year

Used to search Publication Year index.

Valid Forms:
    YR

Examples:
    YR(1986)
    YR(1986-1987)
    YR(>1998)
    YR(<1998)

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Last updated: 1/15/04