Accessing Ovid

Ovid is available to users on the UMDNJ and the Cooper networks.  Remote access is available to UMDNJ account holders using the UMDNJ proxy server.

Links to Ovid can be found on the Camden Campus Library web site, the UMDNJ Libraries web site, or any campus library web site.

Searching MEDLINE

Depending on the link you used to login to Ovid, you will find yourself 

• at a database selection screen - select either the MEDLINE Current File or 1950 to present
• at the search screen - begin your search

To find out more about a term, click on the information button  in the Scope column.

Focusing your search - MeSH headings are assigned to articles that mention a topic, as well as articles about the topic.  Check the Focus box to find articles that focus on the topic.

Exploding - MeSH headings are in a hierarchical structure; and articles are indexed to the most specific term.  Click on the hyperlink for the term you want to search to see where it falls in the hierarchy.  Check the Explode box to include more narrow terms; otherwise they will be left out of your search.

Find similar articles - Use the button to let Ovid find related articles for you.

Find citing articles - Use the button to identify articles that cite a reference in your results list.

Narrowing results

Subheadings - If you select one MeSH term, you will be presented with a list of subheadings.  Check one or more boxes if you want to limit your search to just terms with subheadings.

Limiting - On the main search page you can limit your search to Publication Year, Human studies, English Language articles, Review Articles, articles with Abstracts, the most recent articles (Latest Update), articles from Core Clinical Journals, or articles that have EBM Reviews available.  You can use one or more of these limits. 

Once you have searched for a topic, you click on the  link below the search box to find even more limits that are available to you, such as types of clinical queries

• Therapy
• Diagnosis
• Prognosis
• Reviews
• Clinical Prediction Guides
• Qualitative Studies
• Etiology
• Costs
• Economics

Combining search concepts

You can combine the numbered search statements, or concepts, in your search history to broaden or narrow your search. Just use the check boxes and press the appropraiate button below the search history.    You can also combine your statements in the search box using the set numbers:

Additional search strategies

Sometimes you will want to search for a term that is not in the MeSH vocabulary.  You can uncheck the Map Term to Subject Heading box on the main search page to bypass MeSH mapping.  You also have the opportunity to check a box at the bottom of the list of terms on the Mapping Display to search as Keyword.

You can also search by Author, terms in the article Title, or Journal title by selecting the corresponding button just above the search box on the main search page.

You can click on the  tab above the search box to select from many other possible search types.  When you finish, click on the tab to get back to the main search page.

If you are searching an individual field, you can truncate your terms:

$ or * = unlimited characters
# = one character
? = 0 or 1 character

Viewing results

Check the box next to citations that you want to gather into a new set for printing or saving.  Be sure to use the Ovid navigation buttons when they are available rather than your browser's back or forward buttons.

If Ovid Full Text is displayed, clicking on the link will take you into Journals@Ovid to retrieve the full text of the article. 

If Ovid does not provide full text, you will see a button. Click on this to find out if you can retrieve the full text. If it is not available, you will be able to request a copy of the article via Document Delivery Services.

If Article Review or Topic Review is displayed, clicking on the link will take you into one of the EBM databases to retrieve the review.

You can Customize Display to have your results come up in a format you prefer.  You can choose which fields to display, what record format to use, and how many records to display per page.

Results Manager

Use Results Manager to select the citations you want to display (usually in a new set), print, save, or email.  You can choose which citations, fields, and record formats to use.

It is a good idea to email the references to yourself, even if you plan to print or download.  Be sure to check Include Search History in case you want to recreate your search.

Results Manager DOES NOT print the full text from Journals@Ovid.  You will find printing instructions for these databases with the article's full text display. 

Search screen management

When you have more than 4 search statements, use the Expand tab to the right of the Display column tab to see all of your sets.

You can delete search statements by clicking on Delete Searches.  Check the box next to the statement you want to remove.