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Searching PubMed

What is PubMed?

PubMed is a free web-based interface for searching MEDLINE. MEDLINE is the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) premier bibliographic database that contains millions of references to journal articles in life sciences, with a concentration on biomedicine.

  • Citations in PubMed primarily stem from the biomedicine and health fields, and related disciplines such as life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering.
  • PubMed has information for millions of journal articles published in 5,600 journals in 30 languages dating back to 1946.
  • PubMed facilitates searching across several NLM literature resources: MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC), and Bookshelf.
  • It does not include information about meeting abstracts, conference proceedings, dissertations, patents, or websites.
  • NLM adds words called Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to the information about each article in MEDLINE. Searching with MeSH words helps you find more relevant articles.
  • It does not include or search the full text of journal articles; however, links to the full text are shown when available from other sources, such as the publisher's website or PubMed Central (PMC).
  • By using Duke's version of PubMed, you'll always see a GetIt@Duke button on every citation which will allow you to get the article through our subscriptions or order it via InterLibrary Loan if the Library does not have access.
  • Make sure you always go to PubMed through the Library's website or bookmark this link:
    https://mclibrary.duke.edu/pubmed

How to Access PubMed

DUMCLA access to PubMed

PubMed is available through the Library's website. NOTE: PubMed links on library webpages have a special URL which adds the GetIt@Duke button that allows you to search for full-text articles through the Library. If the article is not available in the Duke University Libraries collections, the GetIt@Duke button links to a page with options to look for print in the library catalog or to request the article via Interlibrary Loan.   image of get it @ Duke button

Content adapted with permission from the UNC Health Science Library Searching PubMed Libguide