Ovid databases

When you first open any Ovid database the Advanced Search screen is displayed as the default. This is the best search option for carrying out a thorough subject search and to develop a systematic search strategy.

When carrying out a search on a subject you should first consider what the key concepts, or target concepts, are for that topic. When building an Advanced Search, you should search for each of your target concepts one at a time before combining them together. 

For comprehensive results, you should carry out a search for subject headings by doing a thesaurus search as well as doing a textword search for each of your concepts. You can then combine your searches together.

Advanced Search on the Ovid Platform: video from Wolters Kluwer.

Search example: to search for results about: The adverse effects of phenytoin in the treatment of epilepsy the target concepts could be:

• epilepsy,
• phenytoin,
• adverse effects

The Termfinder feature enables you to build a search using MeSH terms, Used For terms, Subheadings and Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) terms quickly and easily in a single pop-up box. It is available in Ovid Medline and may be rolled out to other databases on the Ovid platform soon.