Refining Searches Systematically (Limits) – Ovid MEDLINE

Background

A previous Focused Search, Fine Tuning Searches Quickly (Limits) – All Databases looked at database ‘limits’ and how a pre-determined selection of limits are available to you for the database you are working in. While many abstracting and indexing (A&I) databases have some common limits, the full set of limits for the database is usually specific to the database in question. The full set of limits available to you for any given database on Ovid can be displayed by selecting the Additional Limits option in the initial limits display as highlighted below.

The Additional Limits screen opens up to display the full set of limits available for the database you are searching in, in this example Ovid MEDLINE. The display has two parts. The first part, as shown below are the list of limits that are usually displayed, i.e. by default, as the initial limits display screen.

The second part of the Additional Limits screen displays the other limits available for the database in question, in this case Ovid MEDLINE, as well as the selection options available for the said limit. In the example highlighted below, the selection options for the MEDLINE limit ‘Status’ (ST) are fivefold. In order to select the 4 options that correspond to non-MEDLINE records, tick the relevant boxes. Click on Limit a Search. The limit will be imposed on the most recent search expression in your list of searches, unless you have specified otherwise.

You can also place the limits, most useful to you, on the initial selection display by selecting the Edit Limits option. Your selection will remain as your initial display selection for the duration of your database session. After which they will return to and re-display the default selection.

For database administrators, please note  however, that the default selection can be customized for you by Ovid Technical Support so that the default selection of limits better addresses your users’ needs.

Practice Suggestions

1. In the above Focused Search, concept 1 captured the patient population, i.e. migraine sufferers, and concept 2, the intervention, i.e. acupuncture therapy. Combine these two concepts and in the result set, use a database limit to see if there are any observational studies? Which limit would you choose to establish this?
2. Line #11 of the Focused Search covers adults from the age of 19 to old age, which is not specifically given. If you wanted to include adolescents in your search strategy, how would you do this? Do all of the age ranges only apply to humans? Where can you find background information on the scope of the limit? Tip: Look for the ‘eye’ (i).  
3. Starting with the initial limits display, go to Edit Limits. Remove the limits Latest Update and Pharmacologic Actions from the display. Then select the limits Publication Types and Status limits on your initial limits display. Are ‘clinical trials’ a publication type on Ovid MEDLINE? And on Embase on Ovid?

 

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:

Ovid / Knowledge Community
How can I limit search results by a date range in Ovid?

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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

Citation:

OvidGO! Portal. Focused Searches: Refining Searches Systematically (Limits) – 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=63