PubMed Research Rules

Query Construction

• Use MeSH terms for precise searching — controlled vocabulary ensures you find related concepts regardless of wording
• Boolean operators must be uppercase: AND, OR, NOT — lowercase is ignored
• Phrase searching with quotes: "heart failure" not heart failure — unquoted searches terms separately
• Field tags narrow searches: [Title], [Author], [MeSH Terms] — example: aspirin[Title] AND prevention[MeSH]
• Truncation with asterisk: therap* finds therapy, therapies, therapeutic

Essential Filters

• Article type matters: Clinical Trial, Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis — filter by study design
• Publication date for recent evidence — older studies may be superseded
• Free full text filter if access is limited — but don't ignore paywalled high-quality studies
• Humans filter excludes animal studies — relevant for clinical questions
• Language filter if translation isn't feasible

Study Hierarchy

• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses synthesize multiple studies — start here for established topics
• Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are gold standard for interventions — but not all questions are answerable by RCT