T
o search for a particular subject in BIOSIS Previews or BIOSIS Previews/RN,
it is important to understand that subject areas are indexed through the addition of
vocabulary terms called Added Keywords, subject codes referred to as Concept Codes,
taxonomic codes referred to as Biosystematic Codes, and broad taxonomic categories
known as Super Taxonomic Groups.
Added Keywords
Added Keywords (also known as descriptors) are English-language words added to
BIOSIS Previews and BIOSIS Previews/RN records for subject clarification. The
Added Keywords data element provides one point of access to a specific subject area.
This data element contains controlled and noncontrolled terms which are drawn from
the abstract or full text of the document or are deemed essential for the indexing of
the document.
Controlled terms are added to BIOSIS Previews and BIOSIS Previews/RN r e c o r d s
when the corresponding topics are discussed, whether or not the author explicitly
states them in the original source.
Noncontrolled or natural-language terms can be derived from any words appearing in
the abstract or full text of the document. Allow for plurals, variant suffixes, synonyms,
etc., when designing a search strategy using noncontrolled terms.
Since terms from the Title may not be repeated in the Added Keywords, search both
data elements together.
Concept Codes
Concept Codes represent broad subject areas in the life sciences. They are five-digit
codes assigned by BIOSIS indexers when the specific subject area is a focus of the
document. There are 571 Concept Codes used to index BIOSIS Previews and
BIOSIS Previews/RN records. Use of Concept Codes can help focus your search to
a particular topic, eliminating the need for multiple synonym entries. In addition,
Concept Codes are weighted to indicate the degree of emphasis placed on the topic in
the document. The Major Concept Codes represent subjects of significant emphasis
in the document, while the Minor Concept Codes represent subjects of
peripheral emphasis.
U n d e r s t a n d i n g S u b j e c t I n d e x i n g
1 3
U n d e r s t a n d i n g
S u b j e c t I n d e x i n g
Subject areas are indexed
through the addition of
Added Keywords, Concept
Codes, Biosystematic Codes,
and Super Taxonomic
G r o u p s .
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