Searching PubMed

ActiveSLR's PubMed search feature lets you enter a plain-language research question and have AI translate it into a precise PubMed query. You can review the translated query, preview results, and refine your search before committing to an import.

Prerequisite

You must be inside a project to search PubMed. Navigate to your project, then look for the PubMed Search option in the project sidebar.

Starting a PubMed search

Open PubMed Search

In the project sidebar, click PubMed Search. The search interface opens.

Enter your research question

Type your research question or topic in plain language. For example: "diabetes treatment in elderly patients" or "cognitive behavioral therapy for depression in adolescents".

Translate to PubMed syntax

Click Translate. ActiveSLR's AI converts your question into a structured PubMed query using MeSH terms, field tags, and Boolean operators.

Screenshot needed

PubMed search interface showing a natural language input field and a translated PubMed query in a read-only panel below

Understanding the translated query

The AI-generated query appears in the query panel below your input. It typically includes:

MeSH terms - Controlled vocabulary terms mapped from your plain-language input
Boolean operators - AND, OR, NOT connecting concepts
Field tags - Restricting terms to specific fields such as [MeSH Terms] or [Title/Abstract]

For example, the input "diabetes treatment in elderly" might produce:

("Diabetes Mellitus"[MeSH Terms] OR "diabetes"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("Aged"[MeSH Terms] OR "elderly"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("Therapeutics"[MeSH Terms] OR "treatment"[Title/Abstract])

Tip

You can edit the translated query directly in the query panel before running the search. This lets you add date filters, restrict to clinical trials, or adjust the scope without regenerating from scratch.

Previewing results

After translation, click Search to run the query against PubMed and preview the results.

The preview shows:

Total result count - How many articles match your query
Paginated results list - Title, authors, journal, year, and PMID for each article
Navigation - Page through results to get a sense of relevance before importing

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PubMed search results preview showing a paginated list of article titles, authors, and years with a total count at the top

Refining your search

If the results are too broad, too narrow, or off-topic:

Edit the query - Adjust the translated query in the query panel and click Search again.
Re-translate - Revise your plain-language input and click Translate again.
Add filters - Manually append date ranges (e.g., AND ("2020"[Date - Publication] : "2024"[Date - Publication])), publication types, or language restrictions to the query.

Once you are satisfied with the results, proceed to import them into your project.