BIOSIS Evolutions
6
Human vs. non-human studies
There are several options for restricting your search
to human studies, depending on your online vendor.
Many vendors offer a preprogrammed /human limit
which eliminates the need for any further qualification.
Other ways to restrict a search include:
human or
in the Organism field
h o m i n i d a e
h o m i n i d a e
in Super Ta x a * *
scientific names for bro a d
taxonomic gro u p s
h u m a n s
in Taxa Notes**
common names for bro a d
taxonomic gro u p s
You can also add further qualifiers for age and/or
sex, e.g., female, child, etc.
For searches that span the time period prior to 1993
(the start of Relational Indexing), consider also using
Biosystematic Code 86215 (Human).
Note: With some index terms -- patient, volunteer,
clinical trial, etc. the concept human is implied; in
such cases, adding additional human index terms to
your strategy is usually unnecessary.
For non-human research, it is useful to include
both common and scientific names for experimental
animals. Use the same fields as with human terms:
mouse or muridae
in the Organism field
r o d e n t i a
in Super Ta x a * *
r o d e n t s
in Taxa Notes**
Note: Many online vendors also have /nonhuman limits
available, which are helpful for searches on animal
studies.
**Field names vary with the vendor. Check vendor guidelines for more
specific details.
Hints for retrospective searches
If you need information that predates Relational
Indexing, e.g., research added to BIOSIS Previews
before 1993, consider these tips:
Title and keyword terms
Prior to 1993, subject access in BIOSIS Previews
was based on the presence of words and phrases in
the title and keyword fields (both controlled and
uncontrolled keywords were used). For optimal
results, qualify your search terms to these fields.
E x a m p l e :
((lung or pulmonary) adj cancer) / ti,kw
Concept Codes and Biosystematic Codes
Concept Codes were five-digit numbers used to
represent broad areas of the life sciences. These
Concept Codes were used for Neoplasms and
Neoplastic Agents:
CC 24001Diagnostic methods
CC 24002General
CC 24003Immunology
CC 24004Pathology; Clinical Aspects;
Systemic Effects
CC 24005Neoplastic Cell Lines
CC 24006Biochemistry
CC 24007Carcinogens and Carcinogenesis
CC 24008Therapeutic agents; Therapy
CC 24010Blood and Reticuloendothelial
Neoplasms
Biosystematic Codes were numbers used to index
taxonomic organism groups, e.g., BC 86375 (Muridae).
The BIOSIS Search Guide contains complete lists of
Concept and Biosystematic Codes.
Sample search
Here is a typical type of search that is easy to do in
BIOSIS Previews
. It combines the use of both controlled
terminology from the Authority File with free-text.
(Note: This search syntax is not vendor-specific;
check your vendor document for precise instructions
on how to do this search on your system.)
To p i c :
Find studies on ways to treat colon and
c o l o rectal cancer; then restrict it to clinical trials
for a more focused search re t r i e v a l .
Start with disease terms (with synonyms and variants),
qualified to the descriptor/controlled term field;
truncate where necessary for best results.
1 .
(colon or colorectal) adj (cancer or carcinoma or
a d e n o c a rcinoma or adenoma or tumor or neoplas$) /
D i s e a s e s
Search Tips
When the Diagnosis Is Cancer... Finding
Oncology Studies in BIOSIS Previews
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