What's New for 2018 MeSH

What's New for 2018 MeSH • 2018 MeSH Available for Download • Cataloging and Metadata News—2018 • Newly Maintained MEDLINE for 2018 MeSH Now Available in PubMed • MEDLINE Data Changes—2018 • 2018 MeSH Headings Available in the MeSH Browser • MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities for 2018

MeSH is the National Library of Medicine (NLM) controlled vocabulary thesaurus that is updated annually. NLM uses the MeSH thesaurus to index articles from thousands of biomedical journals for the MEDLINE/PubMed database and for the cataloging of books, documents, and audiovisuals acquired by the library.

Overview of Vocabulary Development and Changes for 2018 MeSH

• 474 Descriptors added
• 106 Descriptor terms replaced with more up-to-date terminology
• 7 Descriptors deleted
• 1 Qualifier (Subheading) deleted

Totals by Type of Terminology

• 28,939 MeSH Descriptors
• 79 Qualifiers
• 116,909 Total Descriptor Terms
• 244,154 Supplementary Concept Records

Changes of Note for 2018

The following changes are detailed in MEDLINE Data Changes—2018.

1. The MeSH qualifier (subheading) /contraindications was deleted.
   
   
2. Three new Publication Types are available for 2018:
   • Adaptive Clinical Trial
   • Equivalence Trial
     
     Note three new related MeSH headings:
     
     • Adaptive Clinical Trials as Topic
     • Equivalence Trials as Topic
     • Proof of Concept
   • Expression of Concern
     
     
3. Expanded and updated terminology areas:
   
   • Isotopes and Radioisotopes
   • Smoking
   • Sugars
   • Virus terminology and new Supplementary Concept Record (SCR) class for Organisms