The National Library of Medicine is working on a new interface for PubMed. The new interface will have a more modern look and feel, and will include a variety of new features, such as additional support for mobile devices.

This new interface is currently in beta testing over at PubMed Labs and is publicly available. Users are encouraged to try it and provide their feedback.

Please be aware, since the new interface is still in development, as of now it can’t replace the current PubMed in content and functionality. The National Library of Medicine has announced that not all new/planned features can be found in PubMed Labs yet, but more and more features are being added.

The MSKCC Library is monitoring the progress of these new developments. Once the new PubMed is fully ready for public use, the Library will be offering relevant instruction and assistance.

We hope that the new PubMed will provide an exceptional user experience and support the features users are looking for.

You found the perfect article and now need to get it in full text. Why not try a browser plug-in offering one-click access to articles available through open access or MSK Library subscriptions?

The plug-ins Kopernio and Unpaywall work similarly, harvesting content from legal, copyright-compliant sources and linking to full text where found. Kopernio finds freely available content and PDFs available through the Library, while Unpaywall focuses on open access items. Both tools offer free plugins for Chrome and Firefox.

Kopernio’s green “View PDF” icon appears on the PubMed results page under each record. You can also click the Kopernio icon at the bottom left of each record page.

From a record page in PubMed, click the UnPaywall icon on the right to access full text.

After testing both tools, I found that neither worked perfectly—on a page of PubMed search results limited to items with free full text availability, Kopernio found PDFs for 14 out of 20 articles. Unpaywall found PDFs for 9 of the same 20 results.

And don’t forget about the FullText@MSK icon. When you access a database via the MSK Library website and select a citation (first logging into remote access if you are off-site), click on FullText@MSK to see if the full text is immediately available. If it’s not, order a copy via the Library’s Document Delivery service.

Learn more about accessing full text through the Library.

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.