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PubMed: A Database Guide: PubMed

Research guide discussing how to use the search features of PubMed.

About PubMed

PubMed® comprises more than 36 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.

 

This video describes the contents of PubMed and how it gets there, including the selection processes for MEDLINE and PubMed Central journals. .  (4:41 min.)

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Title List

PubMed RSS Feeds

  • FTP Improvements Available for TestingThis link opens in a new window ​Starting with the annual baseline release in December 2025, the content of PubMed data distributed via FTP will be generated using the same technology as the PubMed website and E-utilities API.To help users prepare for this transition, a test FTP site is available now with daily update files generated by the new process. Jun 6, 2025
  • Changes to Email FeatureThis link opens in a new window On or after July 28​, PubMed will reintroduce the ability to customize subject lines and body text when emailing search results or citations. With this update, the email feature will also require My NCBI login, and PubMed emails will only be sent to the email address associated with the My NCBI account.   May 30, 2025
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  • PubMed Central's Updated Full-Text Search Preview Now AvailableThis link opens in a new window As the next step in the ongoing modernization of the PubMed Central (PMC) website, NCBI is updating the PMC search functionality and user experience. In preparation for a planned transition to this updated search later this year, NCBI has released a beta version for you to preview and provide feedback on. Click the "Try this search in PMC Beta Search" link under the search bar on the PMC website to try out the PMC Beta Search. Visit NCBI Insights or our beta search user guide for more information. Apr 17, 2025
  • Preview of Upcoming Changes to PMC's eFetch OutputThis link opens in a new window In April 2025, the data formats for PMC articles available through eFetch will be updated as part of NLM's ongoing efforts to modernize its products and services. While most of the data will remain unchanged, there are several key differences in the XML and PubMed (formerly MEDLINE) data formats that we'd like to highlight for users. (Learn more about eFetch and the rest of the NCBI Entrez Programming Utilities.) In addition, prior to moving the new formats into production, the new PMC eFetch data formats are now available at a preview location. To use the preview version of PMC's eFetch, update the subdomain of current eFetch URLs that use db=PMC from "eutils" to "eutilspreview". For example, to retrieve the XML data format for an article in the PMC Open Access Subset, such as PMC8270360, use the following preview URL, where the subdomain "eutils" has been replaced with "eutilspreview": https://eutilspreview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/efetch.cgi?db=pmc&id=PMC8270360&rettype=xml Changes and additions to the XML format Within <article-id>, there are changes and additional pub-id-types values: pmcaid - replaces "pmc" as the value identifying that the value of this element is a PMCID pmcid - the unique identifier for the article in PMC pmcid-ver - the PMCID with a decimal suffix indicating the version number doi - the DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, for the article pmcaiid - the article instance identifier, used internally at PMC to distinguish between different versions of the article Within <custom-meta-group>, there are additional <custom-meta> values for article properties and statuses: pmc-status-embargo - indicates if the full text is under embargo. If yes, only the metadata is available until the release date has been reached. pmc-prop-open-access - indicates if the article is available for reuse under a Creative Commons or similar license through the PMC Open Access Subset. pmc-prop-olf - indicates if this is an Online First (OLF) version of the article. pmc-prop-manuscript - indicates if this is the accepted author manuscript version of the article. pmc-prop-has-pdf - indicates if there is a PDF available for the article in PMC. pmc-prop-has-supplement - indicates if the article has supplementary material available in PMC. pmc-prop-pdf-only - indicates if the full text of the article is only available as a PDF in PMC. pmc-prop-is-scanned-article - indicates if the article was included as part of a digitization project. pmc-prop-preprint - indicates if the article is a preprint, deposited under the NIH Preprint Pilot. Image file names in the xlink:href attribute will include the file extension. In the current output, the file extension is not present. If additional DOIs, PMCIDs, or PMIDs are associated with a reference in an article's reference list during processing of the article by PMC, they will be added as <pub-id> elements to the reference with attribute values of pub-id-type="doi", pub-id-type="pmcid", and pub-id-type="pmid" respectively. Additions to the PubMed Format The updated PubMed format available when using db=pmc with eFetch will include a number of data fields previously unavailable for PMC articles, including: MESH terms when available for MEDLINE-indexed records in PubMed Grant information Preprint indicators Additional Publication History (PHST) dates Please reach out to PMC if you have questions or would like to provide feedback. Mar 5, 2025
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  • Compare Nucleotide Differences in the Multiple Comparative Genome Viewer (MCGV)!This link opens in a new window NCBI’s new Multiple Comparative Genome Viewer (MCGV) is an interactive graphical genome browser that allows you to visualize multiple genome assemblies in a single view. MCGV displays whole genome alignments created by the research community.  What’s new? We made several significant updates to this application since its initial release last winter! Now you can:   View … Continue reading Compare Nucleotide Differences in the Multiple Comparative Genome Viewer (MCGV)! → Jun 18, 2025
  • Genetic Testing Registry (GTR®) Search ImprovementsThis link opens in a new window We are excited to announce an improved search and navigation experience in the NIH Genetic Testing Registry (GTR®) so you can find the tests you need in a more intuitive and powerful way. Try searching GTR on our new Beta site and let us know how we can improve!   What’s new?  1. One search box for … Continue reading Genetic Testing Registry (GTR®) Search Improvements → Jun 12, 2025
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PubMed User Guide