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PubMed Workshop

This guide was created to accompany a library research workshop offered via Zoom in March 2021.

Accessing PubMed

PubMed is a free database you can access simply by going to pubmed.gov. However, for best access to full text, connect to PubMed from the library's A-Z Database List.

PubMed provides more than 30 million citations to articles in the fields of biomedicine and health. There are around 2.5 million users visiting the site each day, including health professionals and others from all over the world who are engaged in:

  • Research
  • Public health
  • Health policy development
  • Clinical care
  • Patient advocacy
  • Related educational activities

PubMed home page highlights:

  • Under Learn, don't miss the FAQs & User Guide
  • Trending articles aren't necessarily the newest, but they have seen a recent uptick in user interest - perhaps mentioned in the media. Nobel Prize winners' papers show up here after the prize has been awarded.

Finding full text

Most PubMed citations link to full text, but full text is not always free. There are two general categories for full text links in PubMed:

  1. PMC (PubMed Central): NLM's free full text repository
    • NIH Public Access Policy (adopted in 2008) - any publications whose research was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant must be made available to the public.
      • Authors deposit manuscripts in PMC
      • Journals and publishers deposit content to PMC
      • NLM adds content to PMC through a variety of digitization projects
  2. Publisher links
    • Publishers have different policies regarding access to full text. Sometimes the article is free on the publisher's site. Other times you hit a paywall or other restricted access barrier.
    • Ursuline's subscription content appears in different ways
      • If on campus or logged in via SSO, publisher page may yield full-text access
      • Find It! button
      • LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that provides instant access to full text! Download it here: https://thirdiron.com/downloadnomad/  (it also works in Google Scholar, Wikipedia, and on publisher pages!)

Meet the new PubMed

PubMed has a new look!

  • New interface launched in November 2019
  • Clean, modern look
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Improved search engine designed to help find the best match for your query
  • Same trusted citation data
  • Running in the cloud to increase long-term stability and sustainability of the platform