Automatic Term Mapping

Any combination of search terms can be typed in the query box. Click the Go button to launch the search.

What is searched?

PubMed uses an Automatic Term Mapping feature to search for unqualified terms. When you click Go, PubMed will look for a match in several lists.

It looks first for a match for your phrase as a

• Subject in the
  • MeSH Translation Table. If it doesn't find a match, it looks for your phrase as a
• Journal in the
  • Journals Translation Table, then it searches for
• Author and Investigator names in the
  • Full Author Translation Table, in the
  • Author Index, in the
  • Full Investigator Translation Table, and in the
  • Investigator Index.

As soon as PubMed finds a match, the mapping stops. That is, if a term matches in the MeSH Translation Table, PubMed does not continue looking in the next table.

If no match is found, PubMed breaks apart the phrase and repeats the process until a match is found.

The phrases and individual terms are also searched in All Fields, with the exceptions of multi-word Substance Names and MeSH headings that include stand-alone numbers or letters, which are searched in All Fields as phrases only.