Focused Searches on OvidGO! are designed to make database searches discoverable, accessible and actionable.
For more information, check our FAQ. If your question is not addressed there, please do not hesitate to contact us.
How to limit searches to spans of time from complete years or parts of years to user-defined time frames covering years, weeks or days.
Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
Ovid Training Team
2024-10-30
Training
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the USA is the provider of PubMed, a biomedical database comprising both MEDLINE and non-MEDLINE records. The database records are not an exact replica of the original article but rather an indexed and abstracted reflection of it. From the database provider’s perspective there are essentially three steps involved in converting documents, from their originally published format, into discoverable, searchable and retrievable database records. These are,
Step 1: The document is published in a source indexed by NLM for inclusion in PubMed/MEDLINE.
Step 2: The document’s record is created and enters NLM’s editorial and technical processing systems.
Step 3: The document’s record completes all the required processing for its designated status.
The processing of the document’s record is marked by a variety of time stamps, which as database fields, are indicated in the database record of the original document and hence are also searchable fields. Such instances include; the Year of Publication (YR), the Electronic Date of Publication (EP), the record’s Create Date (DT) as well as the Entry Date (ED). All these fields are phrase-indexed and are searchable using the format YYYYMMDD. An exception being the Year of Publication (YR) which has the format YYYY for both display and searching purposes.
This Focused Search look at ways in which searches can be limited to general or specific spans of time.
Limiting by a Range of Complete Years
The easiest way to limit a search to a range of complete years is to use the Year of Publication (YR) field. This field is marked and populated by the indexers as soon as the processing of the original document begins. The database’s Limits function provides the option for the user to enter the wished for date range. Alternatively, set ranges, i.e. 3 Years, 5 years etc. can also be selected. All the records in PubMed and hence in Ovid MEDLINE have a year of publication. But note this is distinct from the dates connected to the document’s record being processed for inclusion in the database.
Limiting by Parts of Years
For searches across parts of years, down to months and even days, Ovid recommends using the Create Date (DT) field. This field marks the date when the document’s record was added to PubMed. As the date reflects the date on which the citation was added to the PubMed database, this is not the date of either the original document’s publication or even its electronic publication in the database. Also as a phrased-indexed field, the Create Date (DT) field lends itself well to truncation. So for example in the expression limit 1 to dt=202401*-202402* will yield results from all of January 2024 to all of February 2024.
Updating Search Strategies
Search strategies can be updated using the date range searching methods as described above. However, due to the inherent dynamism within the database’s records management, care must be taken when interpreting the results. An alternative method is to extract the records on, say day x and save them according to their unique identifiers (UI), either as a search in My Workspace or in a external document. Then later, on day y, run the same search and save these results similarly. Use the NOT operator to establish the difference between the results sets for day x and day y. This final result will indicate the number of records additionally found between day x and day y.
Practice Suggestions
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Charlotte Viken
Review Date: 2024-10-30
Expiry Date: 2025-10-30
Ovid Training Team
Ovid / Knowledge Community
How can I limit search results by a date range in Ovid?
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What are Boolean Operators?
What is an adjacency operator?
What are wildcards?
Truncation of keywords
Phrase searching on Ovid
Subject heading searching
docz.dz.
(17* or 18* or 19* or 20*).yr.
"2024".yr.
("2020" or "2021" or "2022" or "2023" or "2024").yr.
limit 1 to yr=2020-2024
"2024".dt.
2024*.dt.
limit 1 to dt=20230101-20230331 [Date Range: 1st January 2023 to 31st March 2023]
limit 1 to dt=20240101-20240331 [Date Range: 1st January 2024 to 31st March 2024]
limit 1 to dt=20240601-20240610 [Date Range: 1st June 2024 to 10th June 2024]
Database: Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
How to limit searches to spans of time from complete years or parts of years to user-defined time frames covering years, weeks or days.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the USA is the provider of PubMed, a biomedical database comprising both MEDLINE and non-MEDLINE records. The database records are not an exact replica of the original article but rather an indexed and abstracted reflection of it. From the database provider’s perspective there are essentially three steps involved in converting documents, from their originally published format, into discoverable, searchable and retrievable database records. These are,
Step 1: The document is published in a source indexed by NLM for inclusion in PubMed/MEDLINE.
Step 2: The document’s record is created and enters NLM’s editorial and technical processing systems.
Step 3: The document’s record completes all the required processing for its designated status.
The processing of the document’s record is marked by a variety of time stamps, which as database fields, are indicated in the database record of the original document and hence are also searchable fields. Such instances include; the Year of Publication (YR), the Electronic Date of Publication (EP), the record’s Create Date (DT) as well as the Entry Date (ED). All these fields are phrase-indexed and are searchable using the format YYYYMMDD. An exception being the Year of Publication (YR) which has the format YYYY for both display and searching purposes.
This Focused Search look at ways in which searches can be limited to general or specific spans of time.
Limiting by a Range of Complete Years
The easiest way to limit a search to a range of complete years is to use the Year of Publication (YR) field. This field is marked and populated by the indexers as soon as the processing of the original document begins. The database’s Limits function provides the option for the user to enter the wished for date range. Alternatively, set ranges, i.e. 3 Years, 5 years etc. can also be selected. All the records in PubMed and hence in Ovid MEDLINE have a year of publication. But note this is distinct from the dates connected to the document’s record being processed for inclusion in the database.
Limiting by Parts of Years
For searches across parts of years, down to months and even days, Ovid recommends using the Create Date (DT) field. This field marks the date when the document’s record was added to PubMed. As the date reflects the date on which the citation was added to the PubMed database, this is not the date of either the original document’s publication or even its electronic publication in the database. Also as a phrased-indexed field, the Create Date (DT) field lends itself well to truncation. So for example in the expression limit 1 to dt=202401*-202402* will yield results from all of January 2024 to all of February 2024.
Updating Search Strategies
Search strategies can be updated using the date range searching methods as described above. However, due to the inherent dynamism within the database’s records management, care must be taken when interpreting the results. An alternative method is to extract the records on, say day x and save them according to their unique identifiers (UI), either as a search in My Workspace or in a external document. Then later, on day y, run the same search and save these results similarly. Use the NOT operator to establish the difference between the results sets for day x and day y. This final result will indicate the number of records additionally found between day x and day y.
Practice Suggestions
docz.dz.
(17* or 18* or 19* or 20*).yr.
"2024".yr.
("2020" or "2021" or "2022" or "2023" or "2024").yr.
limit 1 to yr=2020-2024
"2024".dt.
2024*.dt.
limit 1 to dt=20230101-20230331 [Date Range: 1st January 2023 to 31st March 2023]
limit 1 to dt=20240101-20240331 [Date Range: 1st January 2024 to 31st March 2024]
limit 1 to dt=20240601-20240610 [Date Range: 1st June 2024 to 10th June 2024]
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Charlotte Viken
Review Date: 2024-10-30
Expiry Date: 2025-10-30
Ovid Training Team
Ovid / Knowledge Community
How can I limit search results by a date range in Ovid?
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What are Boolean Operators?
What is an adjacency operator?
What are wildcards?
Truncation of keywords
Phrase searching on Ovid
Subject heading searching
Version: 2024-10-27
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Limiting Searches To Time Spans (Date Range Searching) – Ovid MEDLINE [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2024 [updated 25 October 2024; cited 30 October 2024]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=64
Version: 2024-10-27
Visited:
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies quickly and efficiently using validated search strategies.
Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
McMaster University
2024-07-15
Validated Search Filters
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Causation, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ - Causation - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
93 / 63 / 2 / 63 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
51 / 95 / 6 / 95 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
83 / 83 / 3 / 83 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound causation studies in MEDLINE. Proc AMIA Symp. 2003;719-23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480286/
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
risk$.mp. or exp cohort studies/ or between group$.tw. [CQ - Causation - Maximizes sensitivity]
risk$.mp. [Consider $ as a truncation alternative to ':']
exp cohort studies/
between group$.tw.
2 or 3 or 4 [CQ - Causation - Maximizes sensitivity]
Database: Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies quickly and efficiently using validated search strategies.
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Causation, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ - Causation - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
93 / 63 / 2 / 63 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
51 / 95 / 6 / 95 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
83 / 83 / 3 / 83 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
risk$.mp. or exp cohort studies/ or between group$.tw. [CQ - Causation - Maximizes sensitivity]
risk$.mp. [Consider $ as a truncation alternative to ':']
exp cohort studies/
between group$.tw.
2 or 3 or 4 [CQ - Causation - Maximizes sensitivity]
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound causation studies in MEDLINE. Proc AMIA Symp. 2003;719-23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480286/
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Clinical Queries – Causation (Etiology) – Maximized Sensitivity – Ovid MEDLINE [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2024 [updated 25 October 2024; cited 30 October 2024]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=70
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
McMaster University
2024-07-15
Validated Search Filters
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Course (Prognosis), in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ – Course (Prognosis) - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
90 / 80 / 2 / 80 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
52 / 94 / 3 / 94 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
83 / 84 / 2 / 84 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB; The Hedges Team. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound prognostic studies in MEDLINE. BMC Medicine. 2004;2:23 (5 pages). https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/1741-7015-2-23.pdf
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
incidence.sh. or exp mortality/ or follow-up studies.sh. or prognos:.tw. or predict:.tw. or course:.tw. [CQ - Prognosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
incidence.sh. [Searches in the record's subject heading]
exp mortality/ [Includes the term's narrower terms]
follow-up studies.sh.
prognos:.tw. [Consider $ as a truncation alternative to ':']
predict:.tw.
course:.tw.
2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 [CQ - Prognosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
Database: Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Course (Prognosis), in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ – Course (Prognosis) - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
90 / 80 / 2 / 80 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
52 / 94 / 3 / 94 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
83 / 84 / 2 / 84 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
incidence.sh. or exp mortality/ or follow-up studies.sh. or prognos:.tw. or predict:.tw. or course:.tw. [CQ - Prognosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
incidence.sh. [Searches in the record's subject heading]
exp mortality/ [Includes the term's narrower terms]
follow-up studies.sh.
prognos:.tw. [Consider $ as a truncation alternative to ':']
predict:.tw.
course:.tw.
2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 [CQ - Prognosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB; The Hedges Team. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound prognostic studies in MEDLINE. BMC Medicine. 2004;2:23 (5 pages). https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/1741-7015-2-23.pdf
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Clinical Queries – Course (Prognosis) – Maximized Sensitivity – Ovid MEDLINE [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2024 [updated 25 October 2024; cited 30 October 2024]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=71
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
McMaster University
2024-07-15
Validated Search Filters
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Diagnosis, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ – Diagnosis - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
99 / 74 / 1 / 74 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
65 / 98 / 11/ 98 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
93 / 92 / 3 / 92 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Haynes RB, Wilczynski NL. Optimal search strategies for retrieving scientifically strong studies of diagnosis from MEDLINE: analytical survey. BMJ. 2004;328:1040-2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC403841/
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
(sensitiv: or diagnos:).mp. or di.fs. [CQ - Diagnosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
sensitiv:.mp.
diagnos:.mp.
di.fs. [Searches for 'diagnosis' (di) as a floating subheading (.fs)]
2 or 3 or 4 [CQ - Diagnosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
Database: Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Diagnosis, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ – Diagnosis - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
99 / 74 / 1 / 74 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
65 / 98 / 11/ 98 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
93 / 92 / 3 / 92 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
(sensitiv: or diagnos:).mp. or di.fs. [CQ - Diagnosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
sensitiv:.mp.
diagnos:.mp.
di.fs. [Searches for 'diagnosis' (di) as a floating subheading (.fs)]
2 or 3 or 4 [CQ - Diagnosis - Maximizes sensitivity]
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Haynes RB, Wilczynski NL. Optimal search strategies for retrieving scientifically strong studies of diagnosis from MEDLINE: analytical survey. BMJ. 2004;328:1040-2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC403841/
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Clinical Queries – Diagnosis – Maximized Sensitivity – Ovid MEDLINE [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2024 [updated 25 October 2024; cited 30 October 2024]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=72
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
McMaster University
2024-07-15
Validated Search Filters
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Therapy, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ - Therapy - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
99 / 70 / 10 / 71 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
93 / 97 / 54 / 97 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
96 / 95 / 39 / 95 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Haynes RB, McKibbon KA, Wilczynski NL, WalterSD, Werre SR; Hedges Team. Optimal search strategies for retrieving scientifically strong studies of treatment from Medline: analytical survey. BMJ. 2005 May 21;330(7501):1179. Epub 2005 May 13. Full text link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558012/pdf/bmj33001179.pdf
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
clinical trial.mp. or clinical trial.pt. or random:.mp. or tu.xs. [CQ - Therapy - Maximizes sensitivity]
clinical trial.mp. [Searches in the database defined '.mp' set of fields]
clinical trial.pt. [Searches for 'clinical' trial' as a publication type (PT)]
random:.mp. [Consider $ as a truncation alternative to ':']
tu.xs. [Searches for 'Therapeutic Use' (tu) as an exploded subheading (.xs)]
2 or 3 or 4 or 5 [CQ - Therapy - Maximizes sensitivity]
Database: Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Therapy, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ - Therapy - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
99 / 70 / 10 / 71 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
93 / 97 / 54 / 97 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
96 / 95 / 39 / 95 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
clinical trial.mp. or clinical trial.pt. or random:.mp. or tu.xs. [CQ - Therapy - Maximizes sensitivity]
clinical trial.mp. [Searches in the database defined '.mp' set of fields]
clinical trial.pt. [Searches for 'clinical' trial' as a publication type (PT)]
random:.mp. [Consider $ as a truncation alternative to ':']
tu.xs. [Searches for 'Therapeutic Use' (tu) as an exploded subheading (.xs)]
2 or 3 or 4 or 5 [CQ - Therapy - Maximizes sensitivity]
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Haynes RB, McKibbon KA, Wilczynski NL, WalterSD, Werre SR; Hedges Team. Optimal search strategies for retrieving scientifically strong studies of treatment from Medline: analytical survey. BMJ. 2005 May 21;330(7501):1179. Epub 2005 May 13. Full text link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558012/pdf/bmj33001179.pdf
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Clinical Queries – Therapy – Maximized Sensitivity – Ovid MEDLINE [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2024 [updated 25 October 2024; cited 30 October 2024]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=73
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
McMaster University
2024-07-15
Validated Search Filters
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Clinical Prediction Guides, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ – Clinical Prediction Guides - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
96 / 79 / 1 / 79 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
54 / 99 / 12 / 99 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
90 / 90 / 2 / 90 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Wong SS, Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB, Ramkissoonsingh R, Hedges Team. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting sound clinical prediction studies in MEDLINE. In AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings 2003 (Vol. 2003, p. 728). American Medical Informatics Association. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1479983/
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
predict:.mp. or scor:.tw. or observ:.mp. [CQ - Clinical Prediction Guides - Maximizes sensitivity]
predict:.mp.
scor:.tw.
observ:.mp.
2 or 3 or 4 [CQ - Clinical Prediction Guides - Maximizes sensitivity]
Database: Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>
How to help clinicians retrieve clinically relevant and scientifically sound reports of studies, quickly and efficiently, using validated search strategies.
The Challenge: How to find useful information quickly?
Biomedical information repositories such as Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, contain tens of millions of database records on past and currently available medical literature. Updated on a regular basis, they are large, diverse, highly structured and relentlessly dynamic general purpose resources. This can present challenges to health care professionals in clinical settings, for whom (a). only a sub-set of the database is relevant to them, and (b). they need to be able to quickly locate references that they can be sure are both clinically relevant and scientifically sound.
The Solution: Tested and trusted search filters
An important category of tried, tested and trusted database search filters are validated search filters. These are search strategies made available by subject matter and information experts who have constructed and developed them using a reference set of data as a ‘gold standard’. The resulting search filters are then tested against a test set of references in order to assess their effectiveness in terms of targeted and reliable information retrieval. Where they consistently exceed a certain threshold they are deemed ‘validated’. Although such search filters, as is here the case, may only be comprised of 4-6 search expression lines, the fact of their validation accords them a preferred status in terms of being an information retrieval option. In short, validated search filters are high quality, reliable ‘knowledge assists’ that help both clinicians and those that advise them on information retrieval matters, e.g. librarians and information specialists, to find useful information quickly.
The Source: Clinical Queries from McMaster University in Canada
As used here by Focused Searches, the phrase ‘clinical queries’ refers to database search filters that have been developed by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU), based at McMaster University in Canada. Made available as part of their Hedges Project, the clinical query validated search filters cover dedicated ‘purpose categories’ surrounding human health disorders. The purpose categories are causation (etiology), course (prognosis), diagnosis, treatment and therapy, clinical predictions, the economics around human health disorders, studies of quality improvement of health services as well as continuing education of health care professionals. For fuller information on clinical queries, their origins as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/ .
How to make best use of clinical queries?
This Focused Search presents the clinical query for the HIRU ‘purpose category’ Clinical Prediction Guides, in three versions. The first version (see #1 in the table below), when used in combination with a human health disorder, has been tuned for maximized sensitivity. This is a broad search that will seek to return the highest proportion of relevant results pertaining to treatments and therapies related to the specified human health disorder. It may also include some less relevant results. By contrast its counterpart (see #2 in the table below) which is tuned for maximized specificity, constitutes a narrow search. It will seek to return the highest possible proportion of least relevant results. Being then such a targeted search, designed to include only the most relevant results, it may in doing so miss some of these otherwise wished for references. A third option (see #3 in the table below) is a search that has been tuned to seek a middle way between the broad and narrow search options, that is, to obtain the best balance between sensitivity and specificity.
|
CQ – Clinical Prediction Guides - MEDLINE |
||
|
Filter Type |
Ovid Filter |
Sens / spec / prec / acc(%) |
|
1. Maximizes sensitivity |
96 / 79 / 1 / 79 |
|
|
2. Maximizes specificity |
54 / 99 / 12 / 99 |
|
|
3. Best balance of sensitivity and specificity |
90 / 90 / 2 / 90 |
|
Adapted from https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/medline/
Are these search filters still up to date?
Yes, the clinical query validated search filters are up to date. For further information, please refer to the publications listed in Re: Search Filter - Currency: in the References section below.
Why does the Focus Search display as a list of search lines?
The format of the rendered Focused Search for this clinical query is in two parts. The first part is a single line which contains all the clinical query’s relevant terms and expressions. The second part splits the constituent terms and expressions into their component sub-parts and then lists these line by line. At the bottom of the list of component sub-parts the OR operator is then used to obtain an overall result for all the terms and expressions in combination. This result should always be the same as the very first line. The aim of unpacking the clinical query line by line in this way is to ensure the purpose behind each line is understood as is the Ovid syntax used in the line’s construction.
Ovid Syntax Check
predict:.mp. or scor:.tw. or observ:.mp. [CQ - Clinical Prediction Guides - Maximizes sensitivity]
predict:.mp.
scor:.tw.
observ:.mp.
2 or 3 or 4 [CQ - Clinical Prediction Guides - Maximizes sensitivity]
Primary: Michael Fanning
Secondary: Darlene Ennis
Review Date: 2024-07-15
Expiry Date: 2025-07-15
McMaster University
Re: McMaster University, Health Information Research Unit, Hedges Project
For information on clinical queries, as well as a list of accompanying references, please see https://hiruweb.mcmaster.ca/hkr/hedges/
Re: Search Filter - Construction:
Wong SS, Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB, Ramkissoonsingh R, Hedges Team. Developing optimal search strategies for detecting sound clinical prediction studies in MEDLINE. In AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings 2003 (Vol. 2003, p. 728). American Medical Informatics Association. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1479983/
Re: Search Filter - Currency:
Navarro-Ruan T, Haynes RB. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA. 2022 Jan 1;110(1):43. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830395/
Wilczynski NL, McKibbon KA, Walter SD, Garg AX, Haynes RB. MEDLINE clinical queries are robust when searching in recent publishing years. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2013 Mar 1;20(2):363-8. Full text link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3638187/
OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What is a bibliographic database?
What is the structure of a database?
What is Ovid MEDLINE?
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Subject heading searching
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
OvidGo! - Wolters Kluwer - Health Learning, Research and Practice
OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Clinical Queries – Clinical Prediction Guides – Maximized Sensitivity – Ovid MEDLINE [Internet]. London (UK): Ovid Training Team (Editors); 2024 [updated 25 October 2024; cited 30 October 2024]. Available from: https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/searches/view.php?id=74
Version: 2024-11-04
Visited:
Ovid Customer Support, Database Size and Shape – Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Expert Searches Portal, Version: 8th May 2023, Visited: 11th May 2023.
An Ovid Coaching session has its agenda driven by you, the participating librarian. Topics covered are ones that you choose.
They may be related to Ovid functionality, search modes, search techniques, Ovid Tools & Resources, learning materials etc..
To register for an Ovid Coaching session please fill in the contact form below. In the Your Comments box let us know what you would like to discuss and when.
An Ovid Trainer will get back to you to confirm details.
Focused Searches on OvidGO! consist of a comprehensive selection of database searches that are easily discoverable, accessible and actionable, that you can run directly on the Ovid platform with a single click. The curated and regularly reviewed portfolio of searches has been selected by the Ovid Training Team from various named and accredited sources. They include search filters, search strategies, search blocks and vary in size and format.
You can use all the searches within Focused Searches as standalone resources or in combination with the other knowledge and educational assets in the training and coaching activity areas which together make up the OvidGO! portal. Portrayed using a standardised ABC approach (see next section) developed by the Ovid Training Team, any Focused Search can also be quickly displayed on screen passively for consultation, comparative reference as well as teaching purposes. Each search has a background section which provides more detail about the search, its origin plus any noteworthy features and characteristics.
Full accreditation is given to the creator of the search as well as a live and actionable reference to the original source. Each search carries an OvidGO! citation and can be embedded in non-Ovid documentation by means of a dedicated and permanent link.
Developed by the Ovid Training Team, the ABC approach, which stands for Action, Background and Citation, represents the standard format for every search on Focused Searches. Regardless of its type, size or origin, the ABC formula provides for each search; a memorable point of access for both an overview of the search, accompanying information as well as a set of options for its use and re-use.
For example, if you want to view the search on your screen, simply select Actions/Display. If on the other hand you want to launch the search so that it runs and displays in Ovid, select Actions/Display. Once in Ovid, you could use the executed search in the development of your search strategy, save it in My Workspace or share it with colleagues.
Further options under the Actions tab include:
Selecting the Background tab will provide you with information on the search. These details include:
Selecting the Citation tab will display an OvidGO! citation for the search on Ovid and accompanying materials as displayed in Focused Searches. The current citation format is Vancouver.
The searches on Ovid, presented using our ABC format, can be used in a number of ways. These depend, of course, on what your objective is. They could include searching for literature systematically or getting to know an unfamiliar database or even for teaching database use to others.
For example, if you are building a search strategy which requires locating randomised controlled trials, you might want to select Actions/Launch for the Cochrane RCT Search Filter I and directly include it in your search strategy. Equally you might want to save it as a search block in My Workspace for later review, use or even sharing.
Alternatively, were you to be unfamiliar with, say APA PsycInfo, you could select Actions/Display for the Covid and Mental Health - APA PsycInfo search to see how comfortable you are with that database’s use of terms and phrases for the subject matter.
In terms of teaching scenarios, you could refer to the Search History Analysis Example search, where the Background tab provides information on how to use a search history and its systematic deconstruction to help users better understand how and why such searches are built in the way that they are.
If you need our assistance on any of the Focused Searches use cases mentioned above, simply select Actions/Ovid Coaching for the search that interests you.
Every search on Focused Searches is inspected by at least two members of the Ovid Training Team. Inspection involves two activities. First, ensuring that the search as captured and displayed in OvidGO! Focused Searches is a true and accurate version of the original (which often has had to be extracted and/or rebuilt from its original source, commonly a paper- and/or PDF-based publication). Second, that the search runs on Ovid in the selected database and using the syntax as employed by the original creator of the search.
The Ovid Training Team reviewers do not alter or make changes to the content of the original work. Where ambiguities or questions may arise, these are discussed with the original creator of the search for clarification and author-approved remedial action if necessary. Details of any such request for clarification may also be reported on in the Background information where relevant and appropriate.
In the case of search filter type searches included in Focused Searches, if the original author of the search has validated the search, this information is included in the Background information. The Ovid Training Team does not undertake any search validation independently of the creator of the original search. Again, it's worth iterating here that the objective of OvidGO!’s Focused Searches is to bring useful, instructive and highly regarded searches, already published or issued, closer to a user-level surface for greater exposure and positive consumption.
Currently, the searches on Focused Searches will be reviewed annually for relevancy and usage.
As part of The Focused Searches Project we are also reviewing all the searches in the Expert Searches section of the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal. The subsequent inclusion or exclusion of these expert searches into OvidGO!’s Focused Searches will depend upon the former’s current relevance, topicality and perceived usefulness. The Expert Searches on the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal marked for inclusion will be progressively migrated to Focused Searches on OvidGO! and re-structured and re-issued in accordance with the ABC approach as discussed above. Upon the conclusion of this part of the project, the Expert Searches on the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal will be removed from this site by the end of 2024.
If you have a favourite search currently in the Expert Searches on the Ovid Tools & Resources Portal and would like to have it included in Focused Searches on OvidGO!’s, please let us know.
Yes! We would very much like to hear from you. Ideally, recommended searches should be of benefit to a large number of Ovid users. They can nevertheless vary in terms of what they have been designed to achieve. They could be searches that add a more elegant set of lines to a systematic literature search. Or a set of controlled terms that work well across databases with (very) different controlled vocabularies. Or searches that best demonstrate an approach to database usage.
If you have a search that you would like to recommend, please let us know.
The Focused Searches on OvidGO! editors, Michael Fanning and Charlotte Viken, are contactable via their respective e-mail addresses or alternatively via [email protected] .