Pharmacy: Literature Searching using Databases

To plan your search strategy effectively, the first step is to identify the key concepts in your topic.

Here's an example for the following topic:

Is dabigatran more effective than warfarin as a first line treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation?

The key concepts for this topic are:

Concept 1:	Concept 2:	Concept 3:
dabigatran	warfarin	atrial fibrillation

Next, note any alternative ways of expressing each concept (i.e. synonyms, word variations, US spelling, drug trade names) to compile a list of keywords for each concept and add these:

Concept 1:	Concept 2:	Concept 3:
dabigatran	warfarin	atrial fibrillation
pradaxa	coumadin	irregular heartbeat
	jantoven

This template can help you record your concepts:

Planning your search strategy template

Once you have established your concepts and any alternative terms for these, you can build a search strategy for Ovid databases, such as MEDLINE and Embase. Ovid databases use the following search operators to allow advanced searching of these databases:

OR	Combines individual searches on similar concepts or on concepts you wish to compare (i.e. ANY of the terms combined with OR)
AND	Combines searches on different concepts (i.e. ONLY results that have ALL the concepts combined)
*	Truncates keywords (e.g. pharmaceutic* will find pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical, pharmaceuticals etc.)
adjx	Allows you to search for keywords within x number of keywords of each other in any order (e.g. quality adj2 control would find quality control, control of quality etc.)
?	Allows for any or no character – useful for covering US spelling (e.g. behavio?r will find behaviour or behavior)

For a full list of search operators, visit our Database keyword search operators quick guide.

Here is the search strategy which can be applied to our database search:

Concept 1:		Concept 2:		Concept 3
dabigatran		warfarin		atrial fibrillation
OR	AND	OR	AND	OR
pradaxa		coumadin		irregular heartbeat
		OR
		jantoven

To access Ovid databases such as MEDLINE or Embase, use the quick links on the right-hand side of this page. You may be required to enter your QUB number (e.g. 1234567@ads.qub.ac.uk) followed by your QUB password.

1. For Ovid databases (MEDLINE and Embase), enter each search term one at a time, ensuring that Map Term to Subject Heading is selected:

2. Ovid will usually suggest a relevant subject heading, which should be selected. You can also select the 'search as keyword' checkbox. If no subject heading is provided, then select the search as keyword option. If the same subject heading is suggested for another keyword, just deselect or ignore.

3. Do this for all keywords for your first concept, then select the checkbox alongside each search and click 'OR' - this will combine the sets of results into a single set for the first concept.

4. Once all concept searches are combined with OR, combine the concept sets using AND. This will give a single set of results where ALL concepts appear together in each result:

5. Once you have your search results, you can then apply limits - click on the 'Limits' button below the search box and change the publication date range if required. You can also limit to English language. For more limits, such as publication type, click on the Additional Limits button. Once you have selected all applicable limits, click Search to apply these limits.

6. In this example, we have finished with 156 results (i.e. our search has been limited to those results from 2023 to present, and in English). You can then scroll down the page to view or manage your results:

Once you have a result set in Ovid databases, you can view and export your results.

To access the full text of any results, click on the red 'QConnect' link on the right hand side of each individual result. This will check if the result is available in full text via the the Library:

Click the 'full text availability' link to download the paper:

Please note that some results may not be available via the library. If this is the case, you may be able to use theInterlibrary Loan service if you a postgraduate research student, or a staff member.

You can also export your results to a number of different formats, including EndNote and Microsoft Word. To do so, select individual results, a range of results, or all results, and click on the Export button:

You then choose the export format and the fields to export. It's a good idea to select at least Citation, Abstract here, as this will allow you to save the reference and abstract for each result:

A file containing your exported results will be saved to your Downloads folder. If using EndNote, double clicking this downloaded file will 'send' your results into your EndNote library.

It is useful to save your database search if you wish to rerun or edit the search at a later date, or set up an alert so that you receive an email alert for any new results.

To do this in Ovid databases, click on the Save All button below your search history:

You will be asked to sign in or create an account:

Once you have created an account and signed in, you will then need to give your search a name - its helpful to include the name of the database also. Under Type, choose the type of alert you wish to set; permanent will save your search, and AutoAlert (SDI) will create an email alert.

To view, edit, or re-run you saved searches, open the database you were using and sign with your Ovid account in in the top right hand corner. Once signed in, click on your account name, and you will see your saved searches under My Workspace.