Single versus Group Fields (.mp Searching) – All Databases

Background

When using the Advanced Search mode in a bibliographic database like Ovid MEDLINE, it is common practice to enter a search term followed by the field or fields you want Ovid to search in. For example, the search expression (adolescent$ or young adult$).ti,ab,kf. (see this Focused Search, line #1) tells Ovid to search for the terms adolescent or adolescents or young adult or young adults in the Title (TI) field as well as the Abstract (AB) and Keyword Heading (KF) fields. This kind of search is referred to as a qualified search in the sense that the instruction to the database is explicit, namely “go and look for these specific terms in these specific fields, that I, the user have selected.”

But as noted in a previous Focused Search, databases vary not only in size but also in terms of their “shape”. You may, for instance, be uncertain about the field composition or layout of the database. In such cases Ovid can help out with the multi-purpose or .mp search. This is described as an unqualified search across a default set of fields which are specific to the database being used.

In this case, the example as used above would be entered as (adolescent$ or young adult$).mp. For Ovid MEDLINE the default set of fields across which Ovid will then search are:

title, book title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, organism supplementary concept word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms, population supplementary concept word, anatomy supplementary concept word.

By contrast, for Embase the default set of fields across which Ovid will search are:

title, abstract, heading word, drug trade name, original title, device manufacturer, drug manufacturer, device trade name, keyword heading word, floating subheading word, candidate term word.

Because the default fields to be covered by an .mp search are pre-determined, .mp based searches lend themselves well to cross database searching. In this sense the .mp search option is a helpful supplement to Ovid’s Basic Search which is also able to carry search expressions easily across multiple databases.

Practice Suggestions:

1. Combine and compare this Focused Search with the Basic Search example, Knowledge Discovery with NLP (Basic Search) – All Databases. Note that in the Basic Search the search line adolescents adhd ritalin adverse effects {Including Related Terms} has as its search type Basic. But when you limit this line to Five Stars, the search type changes to Advanced. This now enables you to combine this result set with the results in this .mp example. Do the numbers differ greatly?
2. Use the Change option to run this Focused Search through Embase on Ovid. Do both versions of the search, i.e. the lines using .ti,ab,kf. as opposed to .mp, run properly? How could you easily compare the results obtained in Ovid MEDLINE with those from Embase on Ovid?
3. Use the Change option to run this Focused Search through APA PsycInfo. Do both versions of the search, i.e. the lines using .ti,ab,kf. as opposed to .mp, run properly? How can you tell? Identify two markers that tell you.

Search Stategy

Copy Strategy Launch Search

Reviewers

Primary: Michael Fanning

Secondary: Charlotte Viken

Review Date: 2024-10-27

Expiry Date: 2025-10-27

Original search produced by:

Ovid Training Team

References:

OvidGO! / Skills Videos
What are Boolean Operators?
What are wildcards?
Truncation of keywords
Phrase searching on Ovid
How to change databases on Ovid?

Citation:

OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Single versus Group Fields (.mp Searching) – All Databases [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=55