Search strings used in QuickPubMed

To make QuickPubMed as directly usable as possible, the search strings are composed to have such high specificity that the user can expect to find several relevant references in the search result.

At the same time, it means that some relevant references may not appear in the search results.

The search strings used in the simple search will usually result in at least 7 out of 10 being relevant to the selected topic. The more topics you choose, the more relevant the results should be.

The three different versions of the search strings are developed according to these principles:

• Narrow
  If one or more relevant MeSH terms exist, they are used as [majr] (major MeSH topic). If relevant MeSH terms do not exist, [mh] is combined with free text as [ti] (title). At least 9 out of 10 results should be relevant to the selected search.
• Standard
  One or more relevant MeSH terms are used as [mh] and combined with free text as [ti] (title). At least 7 out of 10 results should be relevant to the selected search.
• Broad
  One or more relevant MeSH terms are used as [mh] and combined with free text as [tiab] (title or abstract). At least 5 out of 10 results should be relevant to the selected search.

Limiting to skin cancer

If nothing else is specified when you click next to a particular topic in the search form, all topics are combined (with AND) using a default search string that limits the search to articles about skin cancer. For the different versions, the default search strings are as follows:

• Narrow default search string:
  "Skin Neoplasms"[majr] OR "Keratosis, Actinic"[majr] OR "Bowen's Disease"[majr] OR "Carcinoma, Basal Cell"[majr] OR "Melanoma"[majr] OR "Carcinoma, Merkel Cell"[majr] OR "Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous"[majr] OR ("Lymphoma, B-Cell"[majr] AND "Skin Neoplasms"[majr]) OR ("Skin Neoplasms"[mh] AND "Carcinoma, Squamous Cell"[majr]) OR "Keratoacanthoma"[majr]
• Standard default search string:
  "Skin Neoplasms"[mh] OR "Keratosis, Actinic"[mh] OR "actinic keratos*"[ti] OR "actinic cheilit*"[ti] OR "solar keratos*"[ti] OR "Carcinoma, Merkel Cell"[mh] OR "merkel cell carcinom*"[ti] OR "merkel cell cancer*"[ti] OR "merkel cell tumo*"[ti] OR "Bowen's Disease"[mh] OR "Bowen disease"[ti] OR (("squamous cell carcinoma in situ"[ti] OR "SCCIS"[ti] OR "Carcinoma in Situ"[mh]) AND ("Skin Neoplasms"[mh] OR "skin"[ti] OR "cutaneous"[ti])) OR "Carcinoma, Basal Cell"[mh] OR "basal cell cancer"[ti] OR "basal cell tumo*"[ti] OR "BCC"[ti] OR "Melanoma"[mh] OR "melanom*"[ti] OR "lentigo maligna"[ti] OR "Hutchinson's freckle"[ti] OR "melanotic freckle"[ti] OR "Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous"[mh] OR ("Lymphoma, B-Cell"[mh] AND "Skin Neoplasms"[mh]) OR "cutaneous lymphom*"[ti] OR "mycosis fungoides*"[ti] OR "sezary"[ti] OR ("Skin Neoplasms"[mh] AND "Carcinoma, Squamous Cell"[mh]) OR "Keratoacanthoma"[mh] OR "cSCC"[ti] OR "cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma"[ti] OR "skin cancer"[ti] OR "skin tumo*"[ti] OR "cutaneous malignan*"[ti] OR "malignant cutan*"[ti]
• Broad default search string:
  "Skin Neoplasms"[mh] OR "Keratosis, Actinic"[mh] OR "actinic keratos*"[tiab] OR "actinic cheilit*"[tiab] OR "solar keratos*"[tiab] OR "Carcinoma, Merkel Cell"[mh] OR "merkel cell carcinom*"[tiab] OR "merkel cell cancer*"[tiab] OR "merkel cell tumo*"[tiab] OR "Bowen's Disease"[mh] OR "Bowen disease"[tiab] OR (("squamous cell carcinoma in situ"[tiab] OR "SCCIS"[tiab] OR "Carcinoma in Situ"[mh]) AND ("Skin Neoplasms"[mh] OR "skin"[tiab] OR "cutaneous"[tiab])) OR "Carcinoma, Basal Cell"[mh] OR "basal cell cancer"[tiab] OR "basal cell tumo*"[tiab] OR "BCC"[tiab] OR "Melanoma"[mh] OR "melanom*"[tiab] OR "lentigo maligna"[tiab] OR "Hutchinson's freckle"[tiab] OR "melanotic freckle"[tiab] OR "Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous"[mh] OR ("Lymphoma, B-Cell"[mh] AND "Skin Neoplasms"[mh]) OR "cutaneous lymphom*"[tiab] OR "mycosis fungoides*"[tiab] OR "sezary"[tiab] OR ("Skin Neoplasms"[mh] AND "Carcinoma, Squamous Cell"[mh]) OR "Keratoacanthoma"[mh] OR "cSCC"[tiab] OR "cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma"[tiab] OR "skin cancer"[tiab] OR "skin tumo*"[tiab] OR "cutaneous malignan*"[tiab] OR "malignant cutan*"[tiab]

NOT can be used in cases where another topic among the options would otherwise be included.