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.

Background

Embase, produced by the academic publishing and information analytics company Elsevier B.V., is one of the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) database for peer-reviewed biomedical information. The Embase database covers all disciplines of medical and biomedical science as well as Allied Health subjects.

Embase on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)

• A bibliographic database, Embase is made up of over 41 million database records.
• Over 1.7 million records are added each year.
• Database records are indexed using Emtree, the Elsevier Life Science Thesaurus.
• Conference materials, currently at over 5 million records, have been included since 2009.
• Preprint records, from several sources, have been included since November 2021.
• All database records are indexed using automated means and procedures.
• Records pertaining to diseases, drugs and devices undergo further manual indexing.

Training Session Programme

This Learning Pathway series of training modules draws upon the content and teaching approaches in and behind the learning resource OvidGO! (2). Constructed around a selection of focused searches, the training programme has been designed to achieve the following two objectives,

1. to introduce the database, Embase on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
2. to discuss, demonstrate and practice the key features and functionality of the database Embase on Ovid. 

(1) Reference for the above is the Embase Indexing Guide 2024.
(2). See https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/       

This Focused Search looks 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 Embase on Ovid have a year of publication. See lines #1 and #2 of the accpmpanying Focused Search. 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 First Date (DD) (formerly the Date Delivered field) field. This field marks the date when the document’s record was added to Embase. As the date reflects the date on which the citation was added to the 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 (compare lines #6 and #7 in the accompanying Focused Search), the First Date (DD) field lends itself well to truncation. So for example in the expression limit 1 to dd=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 (which in Embase is the record's Accession Number (AN)), either as a search in My Workspace or in an 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

1. How many records are there in Embase on Ovid whose publication date is in the 1800s? Is this the same for a similar search in Ovid MEDLINE? 
2. Is the last record in Embase on Ovid the oldest record in the database? Is the last record available in full text? How could you establish this?
3. How could you use date range searching to illustrate the rapid rise of articles in Embase on Ovid that discuss the role of ChatGPT in health care?

Strategy

docz.dz.
(19* or 20*).yr.
"2024".yr.
("2020" or "2021" or "2022" or "2023" or "2024" or "2025").yr.
limit 1 to yr=2020-2025
"2024".dd.
2024*.dd.
limit 1 to dd=20250101-20250331 [Date Range: 1st January 2025 to 31st March 2025]
limit 1 to dd=20240101-20240331 [Date Range: 1st January 2024 to 31st March 2024]
limit 1 to dd=20240601-20240610 [Date Range: 1st June 2024 to 10th June 2024]

How to launch a search strategy, that utilising database specific thesauri and limits, nevertheslss functions across multiple databases, and does so in one database session. (Romper Search).

Background

Embase, produced by the academic publishing and information analytics company Elsevier B.V., is one of the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) database for peer-reviewed biomedical information. The Embase database covers all disciplines of medical and biomedical science as well as Allied Health subjects.

Embase on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)

• A bibliographic database, Embase is made up of over 41 million database records.
• Over 1.7 million records are added each year.
• Database records are indexed using Emtree, the Elsevier Life Science Thesaurus.
• Conference materials, currently at over 5 million records, have been included since 2009.
• Preprint records, from several sources, have been included since November 2021.
• All database records are indexed using automated means and procedures.
• Records pertaining to diseases, drugs and devices undergo further manual indexing.

Training Session Programme

Questions:

1. Are there benefits to exploding the Emtree term ‘palbociclib’?
2. Are there benefits to exploding the Emtree term ‘neutropenia’?
3. How could you focus the search without going back to the Emtree thesaurus?

This focused search launches a search strategy that operates across two databases, namely Embase on Ovid and Ovid MEDLINE - at the same time. The search is investigating covid vaccines and their potential side effects. The difficulty is that both of the constituent topics, i.e. covid vaccines and side effects, are treated differently by the controlled vocabularies of the target databases, Embase on Ovid and Ovid MEDLINE. The ‘Romper Search’, enabled on the Ovid platform by deploying the USE command to change databases, provides a means of searching two or more databases in a single session while still making use of the thesaurus and limits selection, specific to each of the databases. The instructions below plus the accompanying supplemental documentation describe in detail how to build such a search. Once practiced and familiar with the construction of this type of search, you could save it in Ovid My Workspace as a model example, for re-use and further development.

Points to note:

• The regulatory environment around drug and device safety usually requires that A&I databases be consulted individually.
• Best practice guidelines around systematic literature searching also recommends searching in separate databases.
• Embase on Ovid and Ovid MEDLINE are both available on the Ovid platform and can be searched individually or in combination.
• When searching the databases in combination, search expressions employing the Title (TI) or Abstract (AB) fields, either separately or in combination, yield reliable results. As does Ovid’s Basic Search (NLP) mode. So too does Ovid’s .mp (Multi-Purpose) search function. This however needs qualification as the set of fields searched across in each case differs between databases.  
• However, where the search strategy wants to avail of the specific thesaurus qualities of the target databases and/or the database’s own selection of limits, problems of inaccurate term or terms translation or rendering may occur.
• Named the ‘Romper Search’ Ovid has developed a search option that, utilizing the USE command, facilitates a single search across two or more databases in one session enabling searchers to avail of the databases’ specific construction, their database specific controlled vocabulary and sets of limits.

Instructions:

1. Logon to Ovid, select firstly Ovid MEDLINE and the Advanced Search / Keyword mode.
2.  Enter the search expressions for this database.
3. Park your Ovid MEDLINE results in the search history using the database segment abbreviation ‘medall’.
4. While still in the Ovid session, next select Embase and remain in the Advanced Search / Keyword mode.
5. Enter the search expressions for this database.   
6. Park your Embase results in the search history using the database segment abbreviation ‘oemezd’.
7. Now re-run your parked searches through Ovid MEDLINE and Embase in the one session.
8. Combine your parked searches using the OR operator.
9. Add limits or impose additional search criteria, e.g. deduplication, as necessary.
10. Alternatively, having not yet logged on,  <Click here> to run this focused search above in Ovid.

COVID-19 Vaccines/
"Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions"/
1 and 2
3 use medall
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine/
adverse drug reaction/
5 and 6
7 use oemezd
4 or 8
remove duplicates from 9

Questions:

1. How could you expand upon the search using free terms?
2. Would the limit Publication Type [PT] cover clinical trials for both databases?
3. How could you identify the duplicates within Embase only?

Strategy

COVID-19 Vaccines/
"Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions"/
1 and 2
3 use medall [1. Park above in Ovid MEDLINE, 2. Continue in Embase]
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine/
adverse drug reaction/
5 and 6
7 use oemezd [1. Park in Embase, 2. Re-run in both databases]
4 or 8 [Combine Ovid MEDLINE & Embase results]
remove duplicates from 9

How to retrieve and display a single article reference, cited in two different databases, APA PsycInfo on Ovid and Ovid MEDLINE, in order to compare the content and format of the database record for the respective resource.

Background

APA PsycInfo describes itself as "(T)he premier abstracting and indexiing database covering the behavioral and social sciences from the authority in psychology". (1) A resource produced and made available by the American Psychological Association (APA), APA PsycInfo, along with Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, constitute, in their respective fields, the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) databases for peer-reviewed scientific information. 

APA PsycInfo on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)

• A bibliographic database, APA PsycInfo is made up of over 5.7 million database records.
• Within these database records are some 144 million cited references.
• The database records are derived from 2,400 journals.
• Database records are indexed using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R).
• Content includes not only journal articles but also book chapters and dissertations.
• Spanning 600 years of content, the database is updated twice weekly.
• Additional topics related to psychology, also covered range from AI to education, medicine and sports.

Training Session Programme

This Learning Pathway series of training modules draws upon the content and teaching approaches in and behind the learning resource OvidGO! (2). Constructed around a selection of focused searches, the training programme has been designed to achieve the following two objectives,

1. to introduce the database, APA PsycInfo on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
2. to discuss, demonstrate and practice the key features and functionality of the database APA PsycInfo on Ovid. 

(1). See https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index
(2). See https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/       

This focused search, conducted across two databases (APA PsycInfo on Ovid and Ovid MEDLINE) in a single session, retrieves two versions of the same article. One version is from APA PsycInfo on Ovid, the other from Ovid MEDLINE. By comparing these two versions (it is suggested in two different browser windows) you will be able to compare the similarities and differences in the respective displays of each of the records.

Points to note:

• There are a range of similarities and differences between A&I bibliographic databases.
• Similarities include the way in which the records are constructed, editorial processes, the use of controlled vocabularies for indexing, limits, author keyword inclusion, how the records may be searched and how the results are displayed.
• However, differences may also be evident in these very areas, i.e. in way in which the records are constructed, editorial processes, the use of controlled vocabularies for indexing, author keyword inclusion, how the records may be searched and how the results are displayed etc.
• An awareness of the similarities and differences between A&I bibliographic databases will make for a better understanding of them and help in the construction of search strategies.

Instructions:

1. Logon to Ovid, select APA PsycInfo <1806 to Present> and Ovid MEDLINE <1946 to Present>.
2. Select the Advanced Search / Title mode.
3. Enter the article title as the search for this focused search as listed below.
4. Alternatively, having not yet logged on,  <Click here> to run this focused search above in Ovid.

"Everything has its price: Foundations of cost-sensitive machine learning and its application in psychology."

which yields...

"Everything has its price: Foundations of cost-sensitive machine learning and its application in psychology.".m_titl.

Practice Suggestions

1. Do both versions display the same Keyword Headings? If so, why is this the case?
2. How many major topics are listed in each of the two bibliographic records?
3. You want to send an e-mail to the corresponding author. Which record provides the relevant information?

Strategy

"Everything has its price: Foundations of cost-sensitive machine learning and its application in psychology.".m_titl.

How to use the database command 'docz.dz.' and the Status (ST) field to identify the constituent parts of APA PsycInfo and show their relative sizes.

Background

APA PsycInfo describes itself as "(T)he premier abstracting and indexiing database covering the behavioral and social sciences from the authority in psychology". (1) A resource produced and made available by the American Psychological Association (APA), APA PsycInfo, along with Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, constitute, in their respective fields, the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) databases for peer-reviewed scientific information. 

APA PsycInfo on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)

• A bibliographic database, APA PsycInfo is made up of over 5.7 million database records.
• Within these database records are some 144 million cited references.
• The database records are derived from 2,400 journals.
• Database records are indexed using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R).
• Content includes not only journal articles but also book chapters and dissertations.
• Spanning 600 years of content, the database is updated twice weekly.
• Additional topics related to psychology, also covered range from AI to education, medicine and sports.

Training Session Programme

This Learning Pathway series of training modules draws upon the content and teaching approaches in and behind the learning resource OvidGO! (2). Constructed around a selection of focused searches, the training programme has been designed to achieve the following two objectives,

1. to introduce the database, APA PsycInfo on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
2. to discuss, demonstrate and practice the key features and functionality of the database APA PsycInfo on Ovid. 

(1). See https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index
(2). See https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/       

Strategy

docz.dz.    
limit 1 to "0100 journal"    
limit 1 to "0110 peer-reviewed journal"    
limit 1 to "0130 peer-reviewed status unknown"    
limit 1 to "0200 book"    
limit 1 to "0240 authored book"    
limit 1 to "0280 edited book"    
limit 1 to "0300 encyclopedia"    
limit 1 to "0400 dissertation abstract"    
limit 1 to "0500 electronic collection"    
or/2-10    
1 not 11    
11 or 12    
 

How to locate and exploit index terms on APA PsycInfo on Ovid using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R).

Background

APA PsycInfo describes itself as "(T)he premier abstracting and indexiing database covering the behavioral and social sciences from the authority in psychology". (1) A resource produced and made available by the American Psychological Association (APA), APA PsycInfo, along with Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, constitute, in their respective fields, the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) databases for peer-reviewed scientific information. 

APA PsycInfo on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)

• A bibliographic database, APA PsycInfo is made up of over 5.7 million database records.
• Within these database records are some 144 million cited references.
• The database records are derived from 2,400 journals.
• Database records are indexed using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R).
• Content includes not only journal articles but also book chapters and dissertations.
• Spanning 600 years of content, the database is updated twice weekly.
• Additional topics related to psychology, also covered range from AI to education, medicine and sports.

Training Session Programme

This Learning Pathway series of training modules draws upon the content and teaching approaches in and behind the learning resource OvidGO! (2). Constructed around a selection of focused searches, the training programme has been designed to achieve the following two objectives,

1. to introduce the database, APA PsycInfo on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
2. to discuss, demonstrate and practice the key features and functionality of the database APA PsycInfo on Ovid. 

(1). See https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index
(2). See https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/       

This focused search will provide you with a quick introduction to indexing on APA PsycInfo on Ovid. The focused search demonstrates how an entry term (as given in the search lines below in bold script) is mapped onto its equivalent thesaurus term in APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R)..

Points to note:

• Includes more than 10,100 standard and cross-referenced terms.
• Scope notes define the terms.
• Historical notes provide valuable information on historical usage, text, or status changes, and the application of the term to historical records.
• Term hierarchies show the relationship to other terms.
• The year indicates when the term was added to the Thesaurus.

Instructions:

1. Logon to Ovid, select APA PsycInfo <1806 to Present>, select the Advanced Search / Keyword mode.
2. Enter the search lines for this focused search as listed below using the given entry terms.
3. Alternatively, having not yet logged on,  <Click here> to run this focused search above in Ovid.

anorexia nervosa/  [1. Entry Term: eating disorders, 2. Navigate to prefered term ] 
exp digital interventions/  [1. Entry Term: internet, 2. Navigate to prefered term ] 
1 and 2  
limit 3 to ("0800 literature review" or "0830 systematic review")  
limit 4 to "remove medline records"  

Questions:

1. Are there any sub-headings available for each of the search expressions?
2. What are the benefits of ‘exploding’ the term ‘digital interventions’?
3. What limit did you need to select to obtains only reviews’?

Strategy

anorexia nervosa/  [1. Entry Term: eating disorders, 2. Navigate to prefered term ] 
exp digital interventions/  [1. Entry Term: internet, 2. Navigate to prefered term ] 
1 and 2  
limit 3 to ("0800 literature review" or "0830 systematic review")  
limit 4 to "remove medline records"  

How to locate tests and measures in APA PsycTests(R) from a reference in APA PsycInfo.

Background

APA PsycInfo describes itself as "(T)he premier abstracting and indexiing database covering the behavioral and social sciences from the authority in psychology". (1) A resource produced and made available by the American Psychological Association (APA), APA PsycInfo, along with Ovid MEDLINE and Embase on Ovid, constitute, in their respective fields, the largest and most comprehensive Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) databases for peer-reviewed scientific information. 

APA PsycInfo on Ovid – Facts and Figures (1)

• A bibliographic database, APA PsycInfo is made up of over 5.7 million database records.
• Within these database records are over 144 million cited references.
• The database records are derived from 2,400 journals.
• Database records are indexed using the APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (R).
• Content includes not only journal articles but also book chapters and dissertations.
• Spanning 600 years of content, the database is updated twice weekly.
• Additional topics related to psychology, also covered range from AI to education, medicine and sports.

Training Session Programme

This Learning Pathway series of training modules draws upon the content and teaching approaches in and behind the learning resource OvidGO! (2). Constructed around a selection of focused searches, the training programme has been designed to achieve the following two objectives,

1. to introduce the database, APA PsycInfo on Ovid, drawing upon where helpful, parallels and comparisons with Ovid MEDLINE,
2. to discuss, demonstrate and practice the key features and functionality of the database APA PsycInfo on Ovid. 

(1). See https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index
(2). See https://tools.ovid.com/ovidgo/       

This Focused Search has two parts. The first part involves locating systematic reviews that discuss empathy in medical students in the course of their medical education. The second part is to establish what tests and meaures have been used to assess empathy, its presence or absence, development or decline, and to obtain further information on the relevant tests and measures.

When using the Advanced Search mode in a bibliographic database like APA PsycInfo on Ovid, it is good practice to divide the research question into main concepts, that is ideas that can be expressed in specific terms. These terms can then be used as your search terms.

Where a database has behind it a thesaurus, also referred to as a controlled vocabulary, it is recommended that you start your search by obtaining the thesaurus rendering of your chosen concept search term. In the Focused Search example, these are lines #1 for the ideas 'medical student and medical education' and line #4 for 'empathy' . In each case the '/' after the terms indicating they are theasurus terms. 

To complete a full concept search it is further recommended that the thesaurus term be complemented by a free term search. This ensures more comprehensive coverage. For instance, that you capture records that because of their very recent inclusion in the database, have not been fully processed, meaning they have not yet had thesaurus terms allocated to them. 

Lines #3 and #6 show the completed concept search for the concepts; medical students, medical education and empathy. 

Line #8 draws upon the assumption that publications that are systematic reviews, now state this explicitely in the title of the publication.

Line #10 draws upon knowledge of the fact that in APA PsycInfo records, tests and measures are listed in a database record, word-indexed field called Tests & Measures (TM). Where a test digital object identifier is also avaiable, this is also captured in a phrase-indexed field Test DOI (TD).  The Test DOI embedded in the APA PsycInfo records affects a direct link to the APA PsycTests (R) database and further bibliographic information on the test in question.

Practice Suggestions:

1. Use the Complete Reference display option to examine the results listed in line #10. Is the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy listed in the Tests & Measures field for all the results? In what other languages is the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy available?
2. In lines #2 and #5 how does replacinng .ti,ab. with .mp. impact the results? 
3. Use the Change option to run this Focused Search through Ovid MEDLINE. Do the concepts 1 and 2 retrieve meaningful results? How does line #10 fare?

Strategy

medical students/ or exp medical education/    
(medical student$ or medical education).ti,ab.    
1 or 2 [Concept 1: Thesaurus and free term search]    
empathy/    
empath$.ti,ab.   
4 or 5 [Concept 2: Thesaurus and free term search]    
3 and 6    
systematic review.ti. [Publication type as stated in title]   
7 and 8   
limit 9 to test doi