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MEDLINE Indexing Online Training Course

Category V - Publication Characteristics

Publication Types

Publication Types used by indexers often correspond to the rubrics found in particular journals.

image of journal cover

In this example the journal has designated these categories: Editorial, News, Correspondence, Review Articles, Articles, etc. Other journals may have other designations.

Publication Types are very important to searchers because it allows them to tailor their search to particular types of articles. For example, a searcher may be interested only in articles that review a particular subject, while others may be interested only in historical articles. By limiting the search to the specific Publication Type, they will retrieve only those types of articles of interest.

Determining the appropriate Publication Type(s) for a particular article is relatively straightforward. As mentioned above, the Publication Type is often indicated by the journal. In most cases, we use the publication type designated by the journal; however, additional publication types may also be required.

Last Reviewed: April 20, 2015