19 Limit Concepts

Have you also listed any of the following in your list of search concepts?

humans (humans vs. animals)

females (gender)

adult (age)

randomized controlled trials, practice guidelines, consensus statements (publication type)

English-language (publication language)

• If so, type the word “LIMIT” or “FILTER” next to these concepts.

When you are working on a MeSH search of MEDLINE, things like publication characteristics (language, publication type) and subject characteristics (human vs. animal, gender, age) are best applied as limits (also known as filters).  Don’t include these concepts in your initial search.  You will apply limits corresponding to these concepts after you have  run the initial MEDLINE search and are viewing the initial search results.

Concepts like “humans”, “female”, “adult” and “randomized controlled trials, practice guidelines, consensus statements” are often best left out of a keyword search.