Table 2.

Examples of draft search composition in PubMed using keywords, index terms, and other tools

Research question	Potential keywords and index terms	Potential search strategy	Notes
What are the attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and practices of community pharmacy staff related to the sale of over-thecounter syringes?	Keywords: chemist; apothecary; needle Index terms (MeSH): pharmacists; students, pharmacy; pharmacy technicians; pharmacy; pharmacies; syringes; needle-exchange programs	(pharmacists[MeSH] OR “students, pharmacy”[MeSH] OR “pharmacy technicians”[MeSH] OR pharmacy[MeSH] OR pharmacies[MeSH] OR pharmac*[tiab] OR apothecary[tiab] OR “chemist shop”[tiab] OR “chemist’s shop”[tiab] OR “pharmaceutical service*”[tiab]) AND (syringes[MeSH] OR syringe*[tiab] OR “needle-exchange programs”[MeSH] OR “needle exchange”[tiab] OR “needle-exchange”[tiab])	Truncation has been used to search for variant word endings Boolean operators have been utilized to ensure that the results have mention of both pharmacy-related terms AND syringe-related terms Specific domains (attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and practices) of interest will be parsed out during screening as opposed to the search
What is the effectiveness of cephalosporins for the treatment of acute pyelonephritis?	Keywords: cefalexin; keflex; biocef; cystopyelitis Index terms (MeSH): cephalosporins; cephalexin; cefazolin; pyelonephritis	(cephalosporins[MeSH] OR cephalosporin*[tiab] OR cefalosporin*[tiab] OR cephalosporine*[tiab] OR “delta3 cephalosporin”[tiab] OR cephalexin[MeSH] OR cephalexin[tiab] OR keflex[tiab] OR biocef[tiab]) AND (pyelonephritis[MeSH] OR pyelonephritis[all] OR cystopyelitis[tiab] OR “kidney pyelonephritis”[tiab] OR “nephritis, pyelo”[tiab] OR pyelitis[tiab] OR pyelocystitis[tiab] OR pyelonephritis[tiab])	Spelling and brand/generic variations have been incorporated for drug names and classes Variations in terminology for pyelonephritis as a condition has been included
What is the impact of menopausal hormone therapy on sleep quality?	Keywords: menopause, estrogen, sleep Index terms (MeSH): menopause, estrogen replacement therapy, sleep	((menopau*[tiab] OR menopause[MeSH] OR perimenopau*[tiab] OR postmenopau*[tiab]) AND (“estrogen replacement therapy”[MeSH] OR estradiol*[tiab] OR estrogen*[tiab] OR progestin[tiab]) AND (sleep[MeSH] OR sleep*[tiab] OR insomnia*[tiab])) AND (random*[tiab]) AND (2002:2024[pdat])	Truncation has been used to search for variant word endings Boolean operators have been utilized to ensure that the results have mention of both menopause-related terms AND sleep-related terms A limit has been built into the search using a field tag related to publication date

Blue text represents the use of index terms within PubMed; Green text represents the use of keywords; Red text represents the use of Boolean operators; Orange text represents the use of wildcards/truncations; Purple text represents the use of field tags ([all] = all fields; [pdat] = publication date; [tiab] = title and abstract)²³

Search strategies provided here are not necessarily the final or “correct” versions, but an initial draft on which a researcher can iterate through reviewing results and working toward optimizing the needs of their project