The PubMed ID (PMID) is one of several standard identifiers in the NCBI system of resources (PubMed, PubMed Central, etc.). You can find a reference in PubMed searching on its PMID number by entering the number in the search box.

If you have a list of PMIDs (created by yourself or supplied by a colleague) and you want to convert it into a list of references — this is easy to do!. Each PMID number can be used as a search term.  Just enter each PMID (by typing or pasting) in the PubMed search box, leaving a space between each number. You don’t need to use a Boolean Operator between each number.

Once you click on the Search button, PubMed converts the numbers into a search strategy by automatically placing an OR between each number behind the scenes and applying the [uid] qualifier to the search string.

This is how the search strategy would look behind the scenes:
30856610 30856515 30856373 30856296 30856208[uid]

PubMed will do the same even if you enter the OR between each PMIDs. Both approaches would work, however you can save time with the method just shared. If you have any questions regarding this tip or would like to learn more about PubMed, don’t hesitate to ASK US!  You can also check out our workshop calendar for an upcoming PubMed session.