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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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  • 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
  • PMC Transitions to Updated WebsiteThis link opens in a new window On October 16, 2024, NLM's NCBI transitioned to an updated PubMed Central (PMC) website, representing the next step in ongoing efforts to modernize NLM's products and services. As part of this update, the primary URL for the PMC website has changed from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc to pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. In addition, you'll notice a new look, feel, and organization of PMC article pages and the PMC Journal List. Learn more in the NLM Technical Bulletin. Oct 21, 2024
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  • PubMed Central’s Updated Full-Text Search Preview Now AvailableThis link opens in a new window As previously announced, NLM’s NCBI is modernizing the PubMed Central (PMC) website. The next step is to update the PMC search functionality and user experience. Before we transition to an updated search later this year, we have a beta version available for you to preview and test! Try PMC Beta Search and share your feedback … Continue reading PubMed Central’s Updated Full-Text Search Preview Now Available → Apr 8, 2025
  • Coming Soon! Enhancements to ClinVar HomepageThis link opens in a new window Many people visit NCBI’s ClinVar site every day, multiple times a day. As the field of clinical genetics advances, more and more new visitors also come to ClinVar to research the clinical significance of genetic variants. Based on feedback from new and existing customers, we are improving the homepage to serve as a better introduction … Continue reading Coming Soon! Enhancements to ClinVar Homepage → Apr 1, 2025
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