Respiratory Care: RESP 210

Differences between PubMed, MEDLINE and PMC

Types of evidence refer to the types of journal articles found when searching. 

Different types of journals articles are:

• Randomized Control Trials (RCT)
• Systematic reviews
• Review articles
• Clinical guidelines
• Cohort studies
• Case studies
• Case series 

Tips from the library exercise for RESP 210:

All information from reputable and valid consumer health or patient care websites came from original research - from an original study like a cohort study or a RCT or a Systematic review.  Find the original research study and you have an journal article to use for a paper. 

Searching tips:

• Author searches in PubMed and Medline Full-text need to be type author last name first then first name - no comma to separate is necessary:  Example:  Lee James
• PubMed will automatically bring up options for names as you type in the authors name
• Medline Full-Text will not automatically match author's names, be sure to select author field from the pulll-down menu
• Use the whole author's name if you have one available - don't stop at Lee J - it could be someone different
• Authors use many different variations of their name when publishing - Dr. JPeter K. Lindenauer could publish as Lindenauer P or Lindenauer, PK or Lindenauer, Peter or Lindernauer Peter K
• Cutting and pasting doesn't work because most of the time the author's name because the name will be first name last name and the database will find nothing
• The same goes for title - type in the name of the journal title, cutting and pasting doesn't always work
• Finding the journal title abbreviation for use in MedLine Full-text - look in PubMed / click on the Advanced Search / click on more resources at the top / select Journals in NCBI databases.  In the search box, eneter the name of the journal and in it is automatically mapping, select the mapped term.  Within the results, find the correct journal title and look for the journal title abbreviation.  Remember the New England Journal of Medicine is organized in PubMed as The New England Journal of Medicine and its abbreviation is not the obvious NEJM but N Engl J Med
• Remember to remove any limits from previous searches - there is a little hazard symbol on the upper left hand side to let you know limits have been applied
• If there is an article where free full-text is not available, copy the PMID number and paste that number into MedLine Full-text to see if we have a subscription to that journal.  Either the PDF will show or you will have to click on Check for Full-text.