Skip Navigation Bar
National Library of Medicine Technical BulletinNational Library of Medicine Technical Bulletin
The Technical Bulletin website will be updated in April 2026. Preview the new website.
Read more about the modernization release schedule in this announcement.
Contact the NLM Help Desk with any questions or concerns.

Table of Contents: 2026 JANUARY - FEBRUARY No. 468

Previous Next


NLM Classification 2026 Winter Edition Now Available

NLM Classification 2026 Winter Edition Now Available. NLM Tech Bull. 2026 Jan-Feb;(468): e4

2026 January 21 [posted]

Scope of the 2026 Winter Edition

The major focus of the 2026 winter edition was the evaluation of the 2026 MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) vocabulary for inclusion in the Classification index. Several additions and changes were made to the Index and Schedules based on this review. All main index headings are now linked to the 2026 vocabulary in the MeSH Browser. Additional minor updates were made to the Index and Schedules.


Summary Statistics for the NLM Classification 2025 Winter Edition

  • 11 New Class Numbers
  • 8 Modified Class Numbers
  • 3 Modified Range Headers
  • 27 New Index Headings – (21 from 2026 MeSH)
  • 6 Modified Index Headings


Examples of Additions and Changes Based on MeSH 2026


New 2026 Headings Added to Index by Tree (and related maintenance)

Of the 160 new 2026 MeSH descriptors, only 21 were added to the NLM Classification index.  Below is the list of 2026 index terms added by MeSH tree category in addition to other relevant classification maintenance done:


Diseases [C]

Non-Melanoma Skin Neoplasms
Omphalocele
Vestibular Migraine 


Chemicals and Drugs [D] 

Personal Care Products (Updated the range at WA 730 and the caption at WA 744)
Royal Jelly
Semaglutide 


Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques, and Equipment [E]

Reiki


Therapeutics [E] 

Cognitive Enhancement
Magnetic Particle Imaging
Microneedle Drug Delivery
Surrogacy (Created new number WQ 208.6) 


Phenomena and Processes [G] 

Immunoediting, Cancer (Created new number QZ 215)
Neurodevelopment
Sex Differences
Thermal Comfort (Added to the caption at QT 165)
Transcriptome (Create new number QU 475.5 


Disciplines and Occupations [H]

Glycobiology
Reverse Vaccinology 


Named Groups [M]

Nursing Home Residents
Respiratory Therapists


Population Characteristics [N] 

Vascular Health (Created new number WG 504)



Main Index Headings Changes Based on MeSH 2026


Of the 42 MeSH descriptors that were changed for 2026, only 11 affected the NLM Classification.

 

2025 MeSH

2026 MeSH

Carcinoma, Basal Cell 

Basal Cell Carcinoma 

Congress 

Conference Proceedings 

Conscious Sedation 

Procedural Sedation 

Consensus Development Conference 

Consensus Statement 

Consensus Development Conferences as Topic 

Consensus Statements as Topic 

Depressive Disorder, Major 

Dietary Patterns 

Major Depressive Disorder 

(Deleted) use Diet 

Pain, Intractable 

Intractable Pain 

Pain, Postoperative 

Postoperative Pain 

Receptors, Kainic Acid 

Kainic Acid Receptors 

Surgical Procedures, Colorectal 

Colorectal Surgical Procedures 



List of All Class Numbers Added for the 2026 Winter Edition

New Number 

Class Name 

Former Number(s) 

QU 475.5

 Transcriptome 

 QU 475

QV 128

 Anti-Obesity agents

 None

QZ 215

 [Neoplasms] Immunology 

 QZ 200

WG 504

 Vascular Health

 WG 500

WQ 208.6

 Surrogacy

 WQ 208.5

WR 510

 Skin melanoma

 WR 500

WX 30

 Collective nursing homes (Table-G) 

 WX 27

WX 30.1

 [Collective nursing homes] General coverage (Not Table-G)

 WX 21.7

WX 31

 Individual nursing homes (Cutter from name of nursing home) (Table-G) 

 WX 28

WZ 23.1

 [Collective academies, institutes, etc] General coverage (Not Table-G)

 WZ 23

WZ 23.5

 Individual academies, institutes, etc (Cutter from name of institution) (Table-G)

 WZ 23


No class numbers were canceled for the 2026 Winter Edition.



NLM Technical Bulletin National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health