Ovid Tips
Field Searching
Fields are access points to MEDLINE documents. Field Searching is a technique that allows you to search the specific field that holds the information you want---such as the Author or Institution or Title. There are several ways to search the fields
Search the fields by clicking on the "Search Fields" image at the top of the Ovid page
- Enter a word or phrase in the search box
- Select the desired field (ti, tw, ab, etc.)
- Click the "Perform Search" button
- Alternatively, after you enter a word or phrase in the search box you can click on the "Display Index(es)" button at the bottom of the page. You will see the results for a number of indexes. You can choose from among the list and click on the "Perform search" button.
Search the fields from the command line...
You can also accomplish field searching by putting the field label between periods after the term. Some examples are:
- diabetes.ti.
--the term "diabetes" will be found in the citation's title.
- diabetes.ti, ab.
--the term "diabetes" will be found in the citation's title or abstract.
- jama.so. and 151.pg.
--the term "jama" as the journal source and "151" as the beginning page number of an article will be found.
- National Jewish Health.in.
--National Jewish Health will be searched for in the citation's institution field.
Citation Verification
Incomplete or erroneous citations can be easily verified using field searching techniques. Of the eight components of a citation (au, ti, so [so = jn, yr, vo, ip, pg]), you often do not know which is incorrect. You can try various combinations of fields to verify a citation. Below are some sample strategies.
- king$.au. and 152.pg.
- jama.jn. and 240.vo.
- asthma.ti. and 2.ip. and 1993.yr.
Searching the MedLine Fields at http://www.ovid.com/site/products/ovidguide/medline.htm
Search Ovid at http://Library.NationalJewish.org/Databases/Ovid.html
