The new PubMed is coming in 2020, and we are here to help you navigate the new interface. Here are five highlights:
- Improved mobile experience: You can now enjoy all PubMed’s functionality and features on your tablet or mobile device.
- Sort Order: “Best Match” is the default sort order for search results. It uses an algorithm to show the most relevant results first. PubMed lets you easily switch to “Most Recent”. Your browser will remember your sorting preference for any following web sessions (except if you clear your browser cache). As a personal preference, I like to toggle back and forth between both options, relevancy is important, but I also don’t want to miss any new studies.
- Citation: A great new feature allows you to copy and paste the citation of an article using the action “Cite”. You can choose from four citation styles: AMA, MLA, APA, or NLM.
- Enhanced retrieval of synonyms, plural forms, and British/American spelling: Please note that while this is a very convenient feature, PubMed may find keywords that are irrelevant to your search. For instance, when searching for the keyword “Nurse”, PubMed will automatically search for the keywords nurse, nurses, nursing, but also the synonyms breastfeeding(s), breastfeeder(s), lactation(s), lactating(s), and lactators. If your search retrieves too many irrelevant results, we will be happy to meet with you to demonstrate how to turn off synonyms retrieval. Come to one of our classes or schedule a consultation with one of us.
- Enhanced data discovery: PubMed added a new filter “Associated Data”, allowing you to retrieve articles with supplemental data from the following data repositories: clinicaltrials.gov, GenBank, figshare, and Dryad.
The new PubMed will become the default in spring 2020. The legacy version will run for several months in parallel before being fully retired. If you would like to familiarize yourself with the new PubMed interface, join us in one of our classes.