| AND |
Combines terms where both terms must be present. The search fields
are combined with an "AND" operator. If one enters
"headache" in the search field followed by "AND
manipulation, orthopedic", the search results will contain
only articles indexed with both of those headings.
Top |
| Author
search |
An
author can be selected using the author's last name along with the
initial of the author's first name. You can search for an
author's name and its proper format using the search button
located by the author field (a gray box with a question mark
in it--click this box to go to the Author Search Screen). In the
MANTIS database, use only the author's first initial.
Top |
| Author
search screen |
You may search for an author that has written research material
that has been indexed and included in the MANTISTM
Database by clicking on the search button (the blue "?"
icon) located by the author field. You will have the option of
typing in a full or partial name in the field provided at the
Author Name Search Screen. Our search engine will try to locate an
author that matches the specifications that you enter and allow
you the option to include this author in your search strategy. The
name will be inserted back into query in the proper format so that
you may continue with your MANTISTM search.
Top |
| Beginning
a search |
Choose
either a headings/subheadings
search, a title word search, a title/abstract word search or a
search for "all" of the above from the radio buttons
directly above the Search Field. If
you are not sure about the appropriate heading(s) to use, you can
click on the Find button for help in selecting
headings (This is the blue "?" icon located to the left
of the field). Choose from the available limiters to narrow down
your search results (Year Restriction,
etc.), select a display format, and
then click on the Submit button.
Top |
| Boolean
operators |
Boolean
operators include AND, OR,
and NOT. Using these allows a search to be
broadened or narrowed as desired.
Top |
| Discipline |
These
are used to find articles published by a profession, rather than
information about a profession. If, for example, one wants to find
articles published only in osteopathic journals, one would select
the discipline "Osteopathic Medicine."
Top |
| Display
formats |
Using
the "Display Articles"
option at the bottom of the search screen, select the display
format in which you would like the results displayed. If you do
not specify a format, the search results will be displayed in
title only format. Select the display format before submitting
your query to the system. After displaying your results in any of
the formats, you have the option of displaying the entire record
for any article simply by clicking on the appropriate article
number. If you are paying "by the hit", you will be
charged only for "Citation", "Citation &
Abstract", or "Citation & Full Detail" formats,
or when viewing the full record of any article from any of the
display format options. You will not be billed for viewing in
"Title Only" format. The same is true for accounts with
a limited number of displays per year. Once you have viewed a
record in one of the longer formats, you will not be charged for
displaying the same record in another longer format during the
current session. For example, if you view a record in
"Citation" format and then during the same session view
the same record in "Citation & Abstract" format, you
will only be billed or charged against your limit for a single
charge.
Top |
| Enter
Article Number |
If
one knows the database accession number of a particular record,
one can retrieve that record by entering the number here.
Top |
| Evidence-Based
Practice |
This
option will limit the search results to a particular clinical
aspect of a subject. For example, if one were looking for articles
with high clinical relevance
about the diagnosis of headaches, one could enter the heading
"headache" in the search field and select the limiter,
"diagnosis".
Top |
| Find
Button (blue "?" icon) |
Use
this button to help you select an appropriate heading,
journal (publication), or author
name to use in a search.
Top |
| Heading
search |
You
can search for an appropriate heading/descriptor/keyword by
clicking on the search button (It is a blue icon with a
"?" in it). Click this icon to go to the Heading Search
Screen located to the left of the search
field.
Top |
| Heading
search screen |
You
may search for a heading/descriptor/keyword that has been used to
index the material (literature) included in the MANTISTM
Database by clicking on the search button (It is a blue icon with
a "?" in it) located to the left of the Search
Field. Enter any word or part of a word and the system will
display a list of all possible headings that use that word. You
can select from the list the heading(s) you would like to use by
clicking on the box next to the desired heading and then clicking
on the "Select" button. The selected heading(s) will be
automatically inserted in the search screen, joined by "OR"
operators. After the word is inserted you may continue with your
MANTISTM search.
Top |
| Headings |
These
are the subject terms assigned by the indexers to describe the
content of the journal article. Headings are known also as
"descriptors" or "keywords". They are either Medical
Subject Headings or are taken from our list of supplemental
headings that are discipline specific.
Top |
| High
Clinical Relevancy |
This
limiter will restrict the search results to articles that relate
the findings of the different types of clinical trials or case
reports with humans as subjects.
Top |
| Medical
Subject Heading |
MeSH
is an abbreviation for Medical Subject Headings. It is a
controlled vocabulary of medical and scientific terms assigned to
documents when they are indexed and included in databases. These
terms can be used in many cases to search more efficiently than
simple text words or text "strings". For more
information on MeSH, please click
here
Top |
| NOT |
Excludes
articles indexed with that heading. For example, if one want to
find articles that deal with treatment of low back pain, but not
articles that are about surgical methods, one could enter the
heading "low back pain-th NOT surgery" OR "low back
pain AND therapy NOT surgery" in the search field.
Top |
| OR |
Combines
terms where any of the selected terms may be present. One can join
words or phrases using the operator "OR" between words
or phrases. For example, if one wants to find articles that are
indexed using either low back pain or sciatica, one could type
"low back pain OR sciatica".
Top |
| Printing
search results |
Use
the print feature of your browser, or save
the results for printing later on.
Top |
| Publication
Search |
Choose
this option to limit the search results to articles from a
particular journal. Click on the find button to the right of the
field (It is a blue icon with a "?" in it). Use the
search feature to find the desired journal name. Click on the
appropriate journal title and then on the button at the bottom of
the journal find screen. This will automatically insert the
journal title in the field.
Top |
| Publication
search screen |
You
may search for information from a specific publication or journal
that has material that has been indexed and included in the MANTISTM
Database by clicking on the search button (It is a blue icon with
a "?" in it) located by the publication field. You will
have the option of typing in a full or partial name in the field
provided at the Journal Title Search Screen. Our search engine
will try to locate a journal that matches the specifications that
you enter and allow you the option to include this journal in your
search strategy. The name will be inserted back into query in the
proper format so that you may continue with your MANTISTM
search.
Top |
| Refereed
Journals Only |
When
this option is selected, only articles found in peer reviewed
journals will be retrieved. Peer reviewed (refereed) journals are
those in which all articles published must be evaluated by experts
in the field before being accepted for publication.
Top |
| Results
List Format |
Select
from the following options before submitting your search query:
Titles Only
Citation
Citation & Abstract
Citation & Full Detail
Top |
| Saving
search results |
Use
the save feature of your browser. If you want to use the search
results with your word processor, you should save the results in
plain text (txt) form.
Top |
| Search
Field |
This
field is also known as the "Keyword Field" or the
"Search Term Field" and is the location of where you
will type in Medical Subject
Headings or strings of text to search the literature contained
within the database. You may use boolean
operators to link strings of words together to perform
specific searches of the database.
Top |
| Selecting
specific records to view |
Selecting
specific records to view
After displaying in any format, you will have the option to select
specific records to view in more detail. Click on the box to
the right of each record you wish to view and then click on the
"View Selected Articles" button at the bottom of the
screen. You may also just click on the individual article number
to view that article's full detail.
Top |
| Subheadings |
These
are terms used to clarify the specific aspect of the heading
discussed in the article, for example, the subheading
"therapy" would be used with the heading "low back
pain" to describe articles that deal with treating low back
pain. Subheadings can be bound to headings with a hyphen to
increase search accuracy. For example, "low back pain-th"
would generally be more accurate than using the separate terms,
"low back pain" and "therapy."
Top |
| Submit |
Click
on this button to send your request after selecting all the
desired options.
Top |
| Title
word searches |
Clicking
on the "Title Contains" option from the radio buttons
located above the Search Field allows
the searcher to find articles that contain one or more specific
words in the
title. This option is particularly helpful when looking for
significant words that are not subject headings. If the searcher
is looking for a phrase, like "turf toe", the words
would have to be joined by an "AND" operator. You would
select the "Title Contains" option and type in
"turf AND toe" or "turf toe". The first search
would find any article with the word "turf" and
"toe" in the title and the second would find any article
with the word "turf toe" in the title.
Top |
| Title/Abstract
word searches |
Clicking
on the "Abst./Title Contains" option from the radio
buttons located above the Search Field
allows the searcher to find articles that contain one or more specific
words
in the title and/or abstract. This option is particularly helpful
when looking for significant words that are not subject headings.
If the searcher is looking for a phrase, like "turf
toe", the words would have to be joined by an "AND"
operator. You would select the "Abst./Title Contains"
option and type in "turf AND toe" or "turf
toe". The first search would find any article with the word
"turf" and "toe" in the title or abstract and
the second would find any article with the word "turf
toe" in the title or abstract.
Top |
| Year
Restriction |
A
literature search may be limited to a specific number of years. To
limit the search, select a beginning and ending year from the
pull-down menus located under the search term fields. The search
will then include articles published during the beginning and end
date and any articles published during the span of the two dates.
Top |
| Refereed
Journals Only |
When
this option is selected, only articles found in peer reviewed
journals will be retrieved. Peer reviewed (refereed) journals are
those in which all articles published must be evaluated by experts
in the field before being accepted for publication.
|