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Search String Translator: PubMed to Other Databases

Paste a PubMed search strategy and get the equivalent syntax for Ovid, Embase.com, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library, with warnings wherever a line needs checking by hand.

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Ovid (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO)

(exp Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/ or type 2 diabetes.ti,ab. or T2DM.ti,ab.) and (exp Exercise/ or exercis*.ti,ab. or physical activit*.ti,ab. or (resistance adj3 training).ti,ab.)
  • Proximity distances are counted slightly differently by each platform (PubMed ~N = up to N words between; Ovid adjN = up to N−1 words between). Check the result counts.

Embase.com

('Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2'/exp OR 'type 2 diabetes':ti,ab OR T2DM:ti,ab) AND ('Exercise'/exp OR exercis*:ti,ab OR (physical NEXT/1 activit*):ti,ab OR (resistance NEAR/2 training):ti,ab)
  • Proximity distances are counted slightly differently by each platform (PubMed ~N = up to N words between; Ovid adjN = up to N−1 words between). Check the result counts.
  • Subject headings were copied from MeSH. Check each one against this database's own thesaurus (Emtree for Embase, CINAHL Headings for CINAHL); Scopus and Web of Science have no MeSH, so headings were turned into text searches.

CINAHL (EBSCOhost)

((MH "Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2+") OR (TI "type 2 diabetes" OR AB "type 2 diabetes") OR (TI T2DM OR AB T2DM)) AND ((MH "Exercise+") OR (TI exercis* OR AB exercis*) OR (TI "physical activit*" OR AB "physical activit*") OR (TI (resistance N2 training) OR AB (resistance N2 training)))
  • Proximity distances are counted slightly differently by each platform (PubMed ~N = up to N words between; Ovid adjN = up to N−1 words between). Check the result counts.
  • Subject headings were copied from MeSH. Check each one against this database's own thesaurus (Emtree for Embase, CINAHL Headings for CINAHL); Scopus and Web of Science have no MeSH, so headings were turned into text searches.
  • Check phrases that contain wildcards in EBSCOhost; if needed, use the N or W proximity operators instead.

Scopus

(TITLE-ABS-KEY("Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2") OR TITLE-ABS-KEY("type 2 diabetes") OR TITLE-ABS-KEY(T2DM)) AND (TITLE-ABS-KEY("Exercise") OR TITLE-ABS-KEY(exercis*) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY("physical activit*") OR TITLE-ABS-KEY(resistance W/2 training))
  • Proximity distances are counted slightly differently by each platform (PubMed ~N = up to N words between; Ovid adjN = up to N−1 words between). Check the result counts.
  • Subject headings were copied from MeSH. Check each one against this database's own thesaurus (Emtree for Embase, CINAHL Headings for CINAHL); Scopus and Web of Science have no MeSH, so headings were turned into text searches.
  • TITLE-ABS-KEY also searches keywords, so it is slightly broader than PubMed's [tiab].

Web of Science

(TS=("Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2") OR TS=("type 2 diabetes") OR TS=(T2DM)) AND (TS=("Exercise") OR TS=(exercis*) OR TS=("physical activit*") OR TS=(resistance NEAR/2 training))
  • Proximity distances are counted slightly differently by each platform (PubMed ~N = up to N words between; Ovid adjN = up to N−1 words between). Check the result counts.
  • Subject headings were copied from MeSH. Check each one against this database's own thesaurus (Emtree for Embase, CINAHL Headings for CINAHL); Scopus and Web of Science have no MeSH, so headings were turned into text searches.
  • TS= (Topic) searches title, abstract, author keywords and Keywords Plus, so it is broader than [tiab].
  • Check quoted phrases that contain wildcards in Web of Science.

Cochrane Library

([mh "Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2"] OR "type 2 diabetes":ti,ab,kw OR T2DM:ti,ab,kw) AND ([mh "Exercise"] OR exercis*:ti,ab,kw OR (physical NEXT activit*):ti,ab,kw OR (resistance NEAR/2 training):ti,ab,kw)
  • Proximity distances are counted slightly differently by each platform (PubMed ~N = up to N words between; Ovid adjN = up to N−1 words between). Check the result counts.

Always test translated searches in each database and compare the results with known relevant records. Automatic translation cannot choose the right subject headings for you.

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How to Use the Search String Translator

  1. 1

    Paste your PubMed search

    With field tags such as [Mesh], [tiab] and proximity [tiab:~N].

  2. 2

    Copy each translation

    Field tags, truncation, phrases, proximity and headings are converted.

  3. 3

    Check the warnings

    Especially subject headings, which differ between databases.

What changes between databases

Each platform writes the same search differently. Ovid uses .ti,ab. and exp Heading/, Embase.com uses :ti,ab and /exp, CINAHL uses TI and AB with (MH "Heading+"), Scopus uses TITLE-ABS-KEY(), Web of Science uses TS=() and the Cochrane Library uses :ti,ab,kw and [mh].

Proximity operators and wildcard rules also differ; for example, the Cochrane Library does not allow wildcards inside quoted phrases, so they become NEXT searches.

Subject headings cannot be translated automatically: MeSH, Emtree and CINAHL Headings are different thesauri. Headings are carried across and flagged so you can map them.

How it is calculated

Sources

Search String Translator: FAQ

Can it translate MeSH into Emtree?

No tool can do this reliably. Look up each heading in Emtree or CINAHL Headings and adjust it.

Does it translate PsycINFO?

PsycINFO on Ovid uses the Ovid syntax shown; replace MeSH headings with APA Thesaurus terms.

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