Design and implementation of a tool for conversion of search strategies between PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE

Abstract

Background: Both PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE contain records from the MEDLINE database. However, there are subtle differences in content, functionality, and search syntax between the two. There are many instances in which researchers may wish to search both interfaces, such as when conducting supplementary searching for a systematic review to retrieve a unique content from PubMed or when using a previously published search strategy from a different interface, but little guidance on how to best conduct these searches. The aim of this project is to describe differences in search functionality between Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed, provide guidance for converting search strategies between the two, and develop an easy-to-use, freely available web-based tool to automate search syntax translations.

Case presentation: In this paper, we present a custom-built freely available online tool, Medline Transpose, to streamline the process of converting search strategies between Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed. With this tool, users can paste a strategy formatted for one interface into the search box and immediately retrieve an output formatted for use in the other interface, with recommendations for changes that users can make to the strategy where an exact translation does not exist.

Conclusion: This novel approach has the potential to reduce time and errors that database users spend translating search strategies.

Keywords: MEDLINE; PubMed; bibliographic databases; information science; information storage and retrieval; literature searching; software tool; systematic review.