How to Search PubMed the Right Way: MeSH Terms, Boolean Operators and AI
Dr. Hammad Ali searches for research on Google and YouTube, and Dr. Zunaira Malik drowns in tens of thousands of PubMed results. In this post of The Research Clinic, the group learns to search the literature properly: where to search, how MeSH headings and free-text [tiab] words work together, how AND, OR and NOT control a search, which filters to trust, how ChatGPT and Claude can draft a PubMed query in seconds and how Consensus gives a quick first look at the evidence (and how to check both), how to save a search and set alerts, how to keep a search log, and how to get full texts legally through PubMed Central, the HEC National Digital Library and other routes. A proper search is also how you prove your topic is novel.
