NEW: MeSH terms for 2019 include Systematic Review as a publication type

As usually happens at this time of year, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) update the MeSH headings used to index their Medline/PubMed database. Full details can be found on the NLM Technical Bulletin, 425. Changes which may be of interest to LSHTM researchers have been highlighted below.

Changes to publication types

The NLM have made additions to their publication types, including adding a systematic review heading.

The new publication types which will be most useful for LSHTM researchers are:

  • Systematic review
  • Clinical Trial Protocol
  • Clinical Trial, Veterinary
  • Observational Study, Veterinary
  • Preprint

Usually the NLM does not retrospectively re-index existing Medline records with new MeSH terms. However, an exception has been made for 2019 and systematic reviews have been retrospectively indexed with the ‘Systematic Review’ publication type.

There are also new MeSH headings which index methodological papers about publication types, by indexing them under the following MeSH headings:

  • Clinical trial protocols as topic
  • Clinical trials, veterinary as topic
  • Forms as topic
  • Preprints as topic
  • Systematic Reviews as topic

There is also a new MeSH heading for Gray Literature.

Additions to MeSH headings

The following MeSH headings have been added. These will not be retrospectively applied, but will be added to any new papers.

  • Aggressive driving
  • Big data
  • Birth setting
  • Body weight trajectory
  • Built Environment
  • Burnout, psychological
  • Child labor
  • Clinical trial protocols as topic
  • Clinical trials, veterinary as topic
  • Correlation of data
  • Cyberbullying
  • Diagnostic screening programs
  • Disgust
  • Economic status
  • Ex-smokers
  • Facilities and services utilization
  • GRADE Approach
  • Healthcare-Associated Pneumonia
  • Host-Microbial Interactions
  • Implementation science
  • International health regulations
  • Internet Access
  • Medical countermeasures
  • Natural disasters
  • Negative results
  • Non-smokers
  • Nutrients
  • Population health management
  • Procedures and techniques utilization
  • Progression-Free Survival
  • Public Expenditures
  • Race Factors
  • Retention in Care
  • Road Rage
  • Smoking Cessation Agents
  • Sustainable development
  • Syndemic
  • Traffic-Related Pollution
  • Vaccinology
  • Workforce

For those interested in nutrition, there has been a number of dietary protein improvements, with new terms specifying the source of protein (fish, grain, meat, nut, poultry etc).

Changes to MeSH headings

The following changes have been made to MeSH headings. If you have used any of these terms in saved searches, I recommend you update your searches to the new terminology.

  • ‘Health manpower’ has been updated to ‘Health workforce’
  • ‘Slavery’ has been updated to ‘Enslavement’
  • ‘Slaves’ has been updated to ‘Enslaved Persons’
  • ‘Tobacco Use Cessation Products’ has been updated to ‘Tobacco Use Cessation Devices’
  • ‘Universal Coverage’ has been updated to ‘Universal Health Insurance

Help and support

If you have any questions about the implications of these changes to your searches or want to know more about using MeSH terms in your searches, please contact library staff through our pages on ServiceDesk.

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