Database-specific search engine
Licensed
Broad spectrum healthcare
Broad spectrum related/other fields
Pharmacy/​pharmacology/​toxicology
Conference abstracts
Journal articles
Broad spectrum of research designs
Europe
International
German
English
French
Multiple interface languages
Spanish
English preset, nine languages in total.
English
Daily
- Embase includes all MEDLINE entries and enables literature searches in MEDLINE.
Basic functions
Search functions
In addition to the Basic Search and Advanced Search, there are also the search modes Find Citation, Search Tools, Search Fields and Multi-Field Search.
AND, OR and NOT.
* or $ (replaces 0 or any number of characters, e.g. cancer* finds publications with the terms cancer, cancers or cancerous), *n or $n (replaces 0 or a self-selected number of characters, e.g. cancer*3 finds publications with the terms cancer, cancers or cancerous). finds cancer*3 publications with the terms cancer, cancers or cancerous, but not with cancerogen), # (replaces at least one character or any number of characters, e.g. cancer# finds publications with the terms cancers or cancerous, but not with cancer), ? (replaces 0 or 1 character, e.g. cancer? finds publications with the terms cancer or cancers, but not with cancerous).
ADJn (n is to be replaced with the number of words between two terms, 1-99 possible, e.g. cancer ADJ2 diagnosis).
Simultaneous use of wildcards and quotation marks possible.
After the search process has been completed, the search terms from the search string that occur in the respective search hit are highlighted in yellow in the hit list. However, several words that have been combined with quotation marks to form a phrase are also highlighted individually in this display, but are still treated as a phrase in the search process. This means, for example, that if you enter "nursing home" in the hit list, nursing and home will be highlighted even if they occur individually, but only hits containing nursing home as a combined phrase will be found in the search process.
To do this, switch to the "Search Fields" search mode and select "All Fields" (af) or use the "Multi-Field Search" search mode and operate the "All Fields" search field.
In the "Search Fields" search mode, all available search fields are displayed with detailed information.
Possible to a limited extent.
Filter functions
Publication date can be narrowed down to the exact year.
E.g. Article, Review, Article in Press, Conference Abstract or Letter.
Display of search results
According to official information, the sorting of hits works up to a maximum of 6000 hits. However, tests we have carried out ourselves have shown that sorting also works up to approx. 10,000 hits.
Year of publication in ascending or descending order.
E.g. Publication country, Language or Publication type.
Display of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 hits per page possible.
Search process and export
Individual components of the literature search can be deleted and/or combined with each other (AND, OR) via the search history. The NOT operator must be manually written to the search history via "Edit" (to do this, combine two entries with AND or OR and then manually replace them with NOT).
Via e-mail and/or RSS feed. Notification by e-mail is not automatic. After logging into the user account, an update can be requested by e-mail.
Single or bulk export possible (maximum 100 hits at once), different export functions depending on the license agreement.
Support functions
E.g. saving the search and/or creating automatic notifications of newly indexed hits.
E.g. for open brackets or operators associated with the search term. A yellow error message appears at the top, but the hits found are still displayed normally.
Special functions
Important search commands
The search commands can be entered manually as a command in the search string in "Basic Search" search mode.
Furthermore, in the "Search Fields" search mode, all available search fields (and the associated search commands that can be entered manually) are displayed with detailed information. These only apply to the entire entry. E.g. select the search field ab: (for abstract) and enter dementia AND behavioral symptoms. Several search fields can be selected at the same time.
To define a specific search field for individual search terms or search concepts, the "Multi-Field Search" search mode can also be used.
Search term is only searched for in the title.
Search term is only searched in the abstract.
Search term is only searched for in the title or abstract.
The search term is searched in the free text terms assigned by the authors of the respective publication (Authors Keywords)
Search term is searched for in all search fields
Can be used for searches in individual search fields and only includes hits in which the relevant search term appears as often as the specified number (in the example on the right, this would be all hits whose abstracts contain the search term nursing at least three times). This does not work with several search fields at the same time or with search commands that search several search fields at the same time. Can also only be used in the advanced search.
The search commands can be combined as desired by separating them with commas, for example :ti,ab for the search in title and abstract (e.g. hypertonia:ti,ab) or :ti,ab,kw for the search in title, abstract and keywords (e.g. insulin:ti,ab,kw). This also applies to other search commands available in Embase via Ovid.
The search commands can also be used for entire search concepts if they are placed after the bracket after which the respective search concept ends.
Example: (cancer OR tumor).ti AND (diagnosis OR screening).ti,ab.
Controlled vocabulary
Embase via Ovid uses an integrated controlled vocabulary called Emtree, which enables a controlled search. This is structured like a tree with top-level and subordinate index terms (descriptors). Each index term also has a number of synonyms that can be searched for if desired. In addition to the index terms in Emtree, there are also so-called candidate terms. These are index terms that do not fit into existing Emtree concepts but are still considered relevant for indexing. The candidate terms are not part of the tree-like structure of Emtree, but are to be regarded as index terms in their own right. There are no scope notes explaining their meaning. As soon as a Candidate Term has been assigned to a publication, it is also assigned a more general superordinate index term. Example: If a publication is indexed that deals with a new drug, the proper name of the drug is tagged with index terms and is therefore not part of Emtree. At the same time, however, the drug class is assigned to the publication as a superordinate index term, which in turn is part of Emtree.
Another option for further narrowing down the literature search with keywords is to use subheadings, i.e. a type of subcategory that can be used to narrow down the individual index terms by topic (e.g. Diagnosis, Therapy, Rehabilitation). To find all available subheadings for an index term, select the "Subheadings" tab under "Search Tools", then enter the relevant index term and start the search. Each subheading is abbreviated with two letters and entered directly after the / command.
Example: neutropenia/di finds publications that deal with the diagnosis of neutropenia. Several subheadings can be used in succession. Example: pneumonia/di/th finds publications that deal with pneumonia and diagnosis and/or therapy.
Click on "Search Tools" in the selectable search modes above the search interface. Then select "Thesaurus" in the tab to the left of the search interface. An alternative setting is "Map Term" - this searches for keywords that are similar to the term entered (e.g. a reference to the index term
Roboticsis made afterRobothas been entered).Enter the desired term in the search interface and click on "Search".
A keyword or a list of index terms found appears. By clicking on a corresponding index term, so-called "Broader Terms", "Narrower Terms" or "Related Terms" are displayed. "Broader terms" are terms that are superordinate to the index term, e.g. the term "Mental Disorders" is superordinate to the term "Dementia". "Narrower terms" are corresponding terms that are subordinate to a term. E.g. the term "Vascular Dementia" is subordinate to the term "Dementia". "Related terms" are terms that are related to a term. The meaning of the respective term can be checked via the information button, marked with a small "i". You must also specify whether the term should be expanded for the respective search string, i.e. whether the index terms below it should be included in the search. If this is the case, "Explode" must be checked. If "Focus" is checked, only publications in which the selected index term is the main topic will be searched. If neither "Explode" nor "Focus" is checked, all publications to which the selected index term has been assigned will be found, even if this is not the main topic of the publication.
a) By clicking on "Continue" above the index term list, a single index term marked with a tick can be included in the search string. In an intermediate step, the index term in question can also be narrowed down using subheadings (see section on search commands). Several index terms marked with a tick can also be included in the search string at the same time with "Continue", but the Boolean operator between these index terms (AND or OR) must first be defined under "Combine with:". b) Alternatively, the index terms can also be entered directly in the search string. In either case, the / character must be entered directly after the respective index term in the search string. The search commands listed in the table below are also available.
If the command is written without any further commands, a search is conducted for publications to which the respective index term has been assigned, regardless of whether this is a main topic of the publication. No subordinate index terms are included.
Explode" command: Searches for publications to which the respective index term or subordinate index terms have been assigned, regardless of whether they are the main topic of the publication.
Command "Focus": Searches for publications to which the respective index term has been assigned as the main topic. No subordinate index terms are included.
Combination of the commands "Explode" and "Focus": Searches for publications in which the respective index term and its subordinate keywords have been assigned as the main topic.
Citation searching
Backward citation searching
Forward citation searching
In principle, forward citation searching is possible in Embase via Ovid. However, since only articles citing the respective hits from journals in the Journals@Ovid database are found, the range of journals or sources included is limited, the forward search is incomplete and references citing the respective hits may be missing. For some of the hits found, no citing references are displayed at all.
- Click on "Find Citing Articles" to the right of the relevant hit. An overview of the articles found that cite the respective reference will appear.
Export of results
The number of hits to be exported depends on the number of displayable hits, actually a maximum of 100. It is possible to use a trick to export up to 1000 hits at the same time, regardless of the license. To do this, click on "All" above the hit view, enter a value in the "Range" field (e.g. 1-1000 or 1001-2000) and click on "Export".
Export of single hits
- Check the box on the left-hand side of the hit(s) to be exported.
- Click on "Export" on the right above or below the hit list. In the Export Manager that opens, click on the format and the desired fields to be exported (e.g. the abstract in addition to the citation), depending on the reference management software used. The default checkboxes under "Include" can be left as they are. Once all settings have been made, start the export by clicking on "Export".
- All further steps depend on the web browser and reference management software used.
Export of all hits at once
Export of all hits (alternative)
Depending on the license agreement of the institution, there may be different export functions, which may affect the number of hits to be exported. The license of Embase via Ovid, on which the creation of this manual is based, only allows a maximum number of 100 hits to be exported.
- First select the "100 Per Page" view in the corresponding tab above the hit list.
- Click on "Export" on the right above or below the hit list. It is not necessary to mark the hits in the list with a tick, as all 100 hits on the page are automatically transferred for export. In the Export Manager that opens, click on the format and the desired fields to be exported (e.g. the abstract in addition to the citation), depending on the reference management software used. The default checkboxes under "Include" can be left as they are. Once all settings have been made, start the export by clicking on "Export".
- By clicking on "Next" on the right above or below the hit list, you can switch to the next page, where steps 1 and 2 must be applied again. Repeat the procedure until all the search results have been exported.
- All further steps depend on the web browser and reference management software used.