PubMed

Saved Searches and Search Alerts are two very similar, but slightly different tools.

Saved Searches save your search strategy for the future, but require you to manually go into your account to re-run the search.

Search Alerts also save your search strategy for the future, but the database will send you automated emails to let you know when new items match your search criteria.

What is a Saved Search?

Once you have a search strategy just the way you want, you can save it to your NCBI account for easy future reference. 

This helps make things easier, as you don't have retype everything every time you want to see the results again.

How do I save a search?

After you have run a search you would like to save, click on Create Alert underneath the Search Box. 

You can name the search whatever you would like. 

If you only want to save the search and not set up an email alert (see below for more information), select No under the question about email alerts.

How do I view my Saved Searches?

To access your Saved Searches in the future, click on your username in the top right-hand corner of any PubMed screen, and select your Dashboard.

When viewing the list of Saved Searches, there are a few different columns of information:

• Search Name
  • If you click on the name of the search, the system will re-run the full search (old + new).
  • This does not reset the Last Searched timer
• What's New
  • This is how many new items meet your search criteria since the last time you ran the full search.
  • If you click on the number displayed in this column, you will see a results list of only these new items.
  • However, this will also reset the Last Searched timer, and when you return to your Dashboard it will display 0 items.
  • Make sure you do something with those new items before you leave this result list, otherwise it will be lost.
• Last Searched
  • This is when the search was run last.  It may be a date, or a rough time estimate, such as Last Week or 2 years ago

How do I edit a Saved Search?

Click on the cog icon next to a given search name, and you can make changes to the saved search. 

This can include changing the name, updating the search terms, and turning on/off the email alert feature.

You can also delete a Saved Search from this screen when you are done with it.

What is a Search Alert?

Search Alerts allow you to take a Saved Search one step farther and have the database email you periodically about new results.

This allows you to easily stay up-to-date on the research in your area of interest, without having to manually go into your account to check what is new.

How do I create a Search Alert?

After you have run the search you want to create an alert for, click on Create Alert underneath the search box.

You can name the Search Alert whatever you would like.

Make sure that "Yes" is selected underneath the question about email alerts.

Edit the fields to set up the alert how you would like it, including the email address where the alert will be sent, the frequency that you will receive the emails, and how many items you would like included in the alert.

Tip: Check the box that says "Send even when there aren't any new results" to help make sure the alert is working properly.  If there are not any new results that match your search criteria for a while, you will not be left guessing if it is still working.

Tip: Increase the number of results to be included to the maximum of 200 so that the results do not get cut off if the search alert is large.

How can I view my Search Alerts?

Viewing your Search Alerts is the same as viewing your Saved Searched.

To access your Search Alerts in the future, click on your username in the top right-hand corner of any PubMed screen, and select your Dashboard.

When viewing the list of Saved Searches/Search Alerts, there are a few different columns of information:

• Search Name
  • If you click on the name of the search, the system will re-run the full search (old + new).
  • This does not reset the Last Searched timer
• What's New
  • This is how many new items meet your search criteria since the last time you ran the full search.
  • If you click on the number displayed in this column, you will see a results list of only these new items.
  • However, this will also reset the Last Searched timer, and when you return to your Dashboard it will display 0 items.
  • Make sure you do something with those new items before you leave this result list, otherwise it will be lost.
• Last Searched
  • This is when the search was run last.  It may be a date, or a rough time estimate, such as Last Week or 2 years ago.
  • This will be automatically updated each time the email alert is sent to you.

How can I edit a Search Alert?

Click on the cog icon next to a given search name, and you can make changes to the saved search. 

This can include changing the name, updating the search terms, and turning on/off the email alert feature.

You can also delete a Search Alert from this screen when you are done with it.