PubMed® and MEDLINE®: Additional Resources

PubMed HomePubMed search and queries, API and E-utilities, citation matcher, journal lists, news and updates

PubMed User GuideDetailed FAQ related to PubMed search, display, workflow, citations, and related services

MEDLINE OverviewJournal selection and related policies

MeSH HomeVocabulary used for indexing, cataloging, and searching of MEDLINE/PubMed

The resources on this page are in addition to those contained in the above sites. If you cannot find the information you're looking for, please contact NLM Customer Support.

NEWS

NLM Technical Bulletin:
The NLM Technical Bulletin provides detailed information about changes and updates to NLM resources, including MEDLINE and PubMed.

OVERVIEWS

MEDLINE, PubMed, and PMC (PubMed Central): How are they different?:
A brief description of MEDLINE, PubMed, and PMC.
Indexing FAQ:
How automated indexing with human review and curation is performed at NLM.

JOURNALS

List of Serials Indexed for Online Users:
A list of titles formerly and currently indexed in MEDLINE.
Finding a list Journals in PubMed: Search criteria to generate lists of journals in MEDLINE, PubMed, and PubMed Central.
Notes About the PubMed Journal List
Includes sample entries.
Journal Subject Terms:
Subject Terms are assigned by NLM at the journal level to describe each MEDLINE journal's overall scope.
Construction of National Library of Medicine Title Abbreviations
The rules currently used by NLM to construct title abbreviations for journals indexed in PubMed.
MEDLINE Journals Indexed from the Online Version:
A list of journals indexed from the online version, with additional information on searching for online journals with LocatorPlus.
Ceased Abstracting and Indexing Publications Containing MEDLINE Citations:
Details about the MEDLINE and non-MEDLINE content of the Hospital Literature Index, the Hospital and Health Administration Index, the Index to Dental Literature, and the International Nursing Index.

DATA STRUCTURE & CONTENT

Alphabetical List of the MEDLINE®/PubMed® Elements and their Attributes
MEDLINE/PubMed Detailed Field/Data Element Descriptions
Descriptions of the fields in MEDLINE/PubMed records, with detailed historical information, when available.
Languages in MEDLINE/PubMed:
A list of language codes and translations used in MEDLINE/PubMed.
Structured Abstracts:
A description of structured abstracts and how they are formatted for MEDLINE.
Code Designations for Greek Characters in the Gene Symbol Field:
How Greek characters are represented in MEDLINE in the Gene Symbol field (used only 1991-1995).
NLM DTDs:
A DTD (Document Type Definition) defines the building blocks of an XML document. It defines the document structure with a list of allowable elements. These are the DTDs that define NLM's XML data.
MEDLINE Databank Sources:
Names that appear in the DataBankName element in the XML version of the citation and the Secondary Source ID [SI] element in the PubMed MEDLINE display.

DATA POLICIES

MEDLINE/PubMed Detailed Field/Data Element Descriptions:
Descriptions of the fields in PubMed/MEDLINE records, with detailed historical information, when available. (Note: This document contains policy information for selected data elements.)
Authorship in MEDLINE:
Information on how authorship is reflected in MEDLINE.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure and Journal Supplements in MEDLINE:
The conditions under which supplements are cited and indexed for MEDLINE.
Construction of National Library of Medicine Title Abbreviations:
How journal title abbreviations are constructed.
Errata, Retraction, Partial Retraction, Corrected and Republished Articles, Duplicate Publication, Comment, Update, Patient Summary and Republished (Reprinted) Article Policy for MEDLINE:
NLM policies on these publication events.
MEDLINE/PubMed Journal Article Citation Format:
Background on the citation style used in MEDLINE/PubMed. See also Sample References (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals)
Multiple Language Translations of Online Journals and Indexing English Editions of Journals:
MEDLINE/PubMed includes a language field for identifying the languages in which an article is published.
Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives: By Organization:
A chart of the major biomedical research reporting guidelines that provide advice for reporting research methods and findings.
Structured Abstracts:
A description of structured abstracts and how they are formatted for MEDLINE.

SEARCHING PUBMED

Special Queries:
A directory of topic-specific PubMed queries.
Journal Subject Terms:
Subject Terms are assigned by NLM at the journal level to describe each MEDLINE journal's overall scope.
What are the date ranges for past MeSH Indexing years?
Information about the date ranges for indexing with MeSH. Includes tips for searching.

MEDLINE STATISTICS

Statistical Reports on MEDLINE/PubMed Baseline Data:
NLM generates statistical reports based upon the data elements in the baseline versions of MEDLINE/PubMed each year. These reports provide insight into the metadata of the MEDLINE/PubMed corpus and are a valuable tool for understanding the current state and evolution of this resource. These reports were previous presented via a combination of web pages and downloadable files. Starting in 2023, these reports will be available on NLM’s Data Discovery. The current year’s report will be viewable in Data Discovery’s web-based exploration and filtering tool, as well as being accessible via API. Additionally, a spreadsheet containing all years of each specific report, will be available.
Baseline Statistical Reports:
- Baseline Min/Max Report containing total citations; minimum/average/maximum occurrences and lengths of a variety of elements, including those related to ISSN, abstract, author, comments, MeSH types, keywords, and investigators.
- Baseline Misc Report containing single values for elements such as abstract size, indexing method, MeSH occurrences, citation status, grant county, publication type, and PubMed ID (PMID) version.
- Yearly Citation Totals from each year of the MEDLINE/PubMed Baseline referencing citations back to the year 1781.
MEDLINE/PubMed Baseline Repository (MBR)
Each baseline contains a snapshot of MEDLINE citations in the state they were at a given moment in time without the MeSH vocabulary updates and other revisions that occur during the year.
Citation Counts by Year of Publication:
Total number, number published in the U.S., and percent published in the US for each year of publication.
Authors per Citation:
Number of personal authors and collective authors per citation, and trends over time.
Number of Citations to English Language Articles; Number of Citations Containing Abstracts:
By date ranges, the number and percent of citations to English language and non-English language articles, and number and percent with abstracts.
MEDLINE PubMed Production Statistics:
Citations indexed, journal titles, number of searches, Web/Interactive, and Script/E-Utilities.
Citations Added to MEDLINE by Fiscal Year:
Total of indexed citations by fiscal year.
Funding Support (Grant) Information in MEDLINE/PubMed:
An explanation and statistics of research funding support information on MEDLINE citations.

TRAINING RESOURCES

Learning Resources Database:
PubMed and MEDLINE tutorials, videos, and other instructional materials.
Class Catalog at the Network of the National Library of Medicine:
PubMed and MEDLINE courses available for health sciences librarians and information specialists in the United States.

Last Reviewed: March 30, 2023