BIOL 212: Cell Physiology

Finding Primary Sources and Reviews in PubMed

How to search PubMed to find primary research as well as reviews published since 2010, and how to get the full-text articles.

Tips and Strategies

Enter your concepts into the PubMed search box.

• TIP: it can be useful to enter only one concept at a time, to be sure each new addition retrieves results.
  • EXAMPLE: embryonic stem cells

Tips to focus your search: 

• Add additional terms to narrow the search
  • EXAMPLE: add dna damage to the search:
    • embryonic stem cells AND dna damage
• Consider entering phrases in quotation marks to find only exact phrases.
  • EXAMPLE: "embryonic stem cells" AND "dna damage"
• Consider whether there are synonyms or related terms to the keywords you are using, and add them to the search using the "OR" operator. Use parentheses ( ) to group similar concepts or keywords together.
  • EXAMPLE: "embryonic stem cells" AND ("dna damage" OR "dna repair")
    • TIP: the "AND" operator is optional, as PubMed applies it automatically.

Limit your search results by publication date:

• We want to limit to articles published since 2010.
  • EXAMPLE: At the top of the left-hand sidebar, use the date slider to select the date range: 2010 - 2024.
    • TIP: you can expand the size of the slider using the expand button.
  • You can also use the "publication date" filter at the bottom of the sidebar to create a "Custom Range" of years.
  • TIP: If you're using a small screen and do not see a sidebar, look for the "filters" button in the top menu.

Identify review articles.

• PubMed will automatically identify "Review" articles in the search results. You can also limit to review articles using filters.
  • TIP: "Review" articles are not primary research, but they can be excellent sources to identify relevant primary research articles.

Identify primary research articles.

• Look for evidence of primary research in the article abstract, or in the body of the article:
  • The authors conduct the study. The article will report the results of research conducted by the authors to answer a research question or test a hypothesis.
    • Look for words indicating that the authors themselves "measured" or "analyzed" or "Investigated" the topic at hand.
  • Methods section. The article will usually have a "methods" or "methodology" or "research design" section detailing how the research was conducted or performed.
  • Results section and data visualizations. The article should include a "results" section that reports the authors' original findings.
    • Look for statistics, graphs, tables, or other data visualizations here.

Finding the Full Text of an article:

• Click on an article title to view the full record in PubMed.
  • Check the full text links / buttons in the right-hand sidebar.
    • If the link / button says "PubMed Central" or "PMC" or "open access" or "free" then the full text will be available.
      • Otherwise, you may see a link to the publisher's website where you can check to see whether or not the full text is available for free.
    • Always check Gleeson Library's "Full Text Finder" which will let you know if you have access to the full text via the library databases and subscriptions.
    • TIP: You must access PubMed via the library's link in order for the library's "Full Text Finder" to appear.
  • If there is no full text available anywhere, you can use the library's Interlibrary Loan service to request the article from another library. This is free for you, and we can usually get articles very quickly.

APA Citations and RefWorks

Cite your articles in APA format

• PubMed can help you cite your articles in APA format.
  • EXAMPLE: In PubMed, click on the title of the article to display the full record, and then click on the "Cite" button in the right-hand sidebar. 
    • Change the "format" to APA, and copy / paste the result.
• TIP: with any online-generated citation, you always need to examine the citation for accuracy.

For a full-featured citation manager that can format APA style as well as thousands of other styles, see RefWorks, below.