PubMed® has multiple features that work “behind the scenes” to bring you the most relevant results, including automatic term mapping (ATM), a citation sensor, and the Best Match sort order. This means that most PubMed searches require no special knowledge on the part of the searcher to work well. You can enter terms that describe what you’re searching for and PubMed will usually return useful results.

However, you might want to use advanced search features, like MeSH, when:

• Completing a systematic review, or other type of comprehensive literature search
• Researching how the biomedical literature has discussed a topic across time
• Conducting specialized searches for topics like reported adverse effects of drugs

This module will take you beyond ATM to show you how to determine exactly what PubMed is searching, what to do if PubMed isn’t mapping to MeSH, and how to use MeSH to narrow your results.