Module 2: Refining Your Search - Beyond Automatic Term Mapping

How Can I Use MeSH to Narrow My Search Results?


Publication Type Filters


MeSH is also used to index citations according to Publication Type, which you can apply to a search to narrow your results. These include publication types like Case Reports, Clinical Trial, Systematic Review, and Randomized Controlled Trial. See a complete list of the available Publication Types in the PubMed User Guide.

By default, PubMed displays these Publication Type filters on the results page: Books and Documents, Clinical Trial, Meta-Analysis, Randomized Controlled Trial, Review, and Systematic Review. Other filters are available from the Additional Filters menu.

Publication Type filters on the PubMed results page: Books and Documents, Clinical Trial, Meta-Analysis, Randomized Controlled Trial, Review, and Systematic Review

Follow these steps to apply Publication Type filters to your search results:

  1. Search PubMed with your terms
  2. Locate the Article Type filters on the left-hand side of the results page
  3. Click the box beside a filter to apply it

To view other available filters and apply them to your search, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Additional Filters button
Additional Filters button circled on the left sidebard

  1. Select your filters
  2. Click the Show button
Additional Filters pop-up menu with Case Studies checked and the Show button circled

  1. Go back to the list of Article Type filters and click the box beside the filter you just added to apply it
Article Type menu showing Case Reports circled and filter applied