The Bibliographic Services Division (BSD), a part of Library Operations at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), fosters expanded access of health information to health professionals and the general public by creating MEDLINE®, the NLM premiere citation database to biomedical literature references.

The Office of the Chief supports:

• Interactions with publishers and editors of biomedical journals and assisting the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC) in their review of journals for inclusion in MEDLINE. A list of titles recently selected is also available.
• The provision and oversight of RxNorm, SNOMED CT and LOINC terminologies for use in the NLM products and services.

The Division is composed of two Sections:

• Index Section - creates and maintains the MEDLINE database containing citations to current articles from over 5,200 of the world's biomedical journals; coordinates the data review, indexing, and commentary content; and conducts research leading to more efficient forms of indexing and metadata application.
• MEDLARS Management Section (MMS) - responsible for coordinating the overall development and management activities for terminology products such as the Unified Medical Language Service (UMLS), the Value Set Authority Center (VSAC), SNOMED CT, RxNorm, and the Common Data Element Repository; creates and maintains the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary and associated MeSH tools; provides serials support for MEDLINE, PMC, Genbank and Author Manuscript titles; and provides chemical and drug information for NLM products, such as DailyMed.

Selected BSD Resources:

MEDLINE Journals and the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee

• Journal Selection for MEDLINE
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Currently Indexed MEDLINE Journals
• Journals Recently Accepted by NLM for Inclusion in MEDLINE
• MEDLINE Policy on Indexing Electronic Journals
• ICMJE Recommendations
• PIE-J: Presentation & Identification of E-Journals
• Construction of National Library of Medicine Title Abbreviations
• Other Journal Resources

MEDLINE Policies

• Authorship in MEDLINE
• Errata, Retraction, Partial Retraction, Corrected and Republished Articles, Duplicate Publication, Comment, Update, Patient Summary and Republished (Reprinted) Article Policy for MEDLINE
• MEDLINE/PubMed Journal Article Citation Format
• Annual MEDLINE®/PubMed® Year-End Processing (YEP) Background Information
• Other Policies

MEDLINE Statistics

• MEDLINE PubMed Production Statistics
• Key MEDLINE Indicators (Archived Version)
• MEDLINE Selection Statistics
• Other Statistics

MEDLINE: Overview

What's the Difference Between MEDLINE and PubMed®?

Journal Selection for MEDLINE

Unified Medical Language System®

NLM Technical Bulletin

MEDLINE/PubMed Resources

NLM Products and Services

Journals Information

Health Information Technology and Health Data Standards at NLM

Frequently Asked Questions

Indexing for MEDLINE

MEDLINE and PubMed