My NCBI: How to Find Articles and Books: Galter Health Sciences Library

Why Use My NCBI?

My NCBI is a service you can use to customize your experience when searching PubMed or other NCBI databases such as Entrez Nucleotide, Entrez Protein, and Entrez Genome.

You can use My NCBI to:

Save searches.
Set up e-mail alerts for new content.
Create collections of saved references.
Choose filters that organize search results.
Highlight search terms within your results.

To get started, click on the "Register" link in the upper right-hand corner of PubMed.

Register for My NCBI

Saving Searches

It's easy to save searches using My NCBI. When you save a search, you can choose to manually check for new references or schedule e-mail delivery of new papers added to PubMed which match your search criteria. To save a search:

1. Run your search.
2. Click "Save Search".

Save Search

3. Name the Saved Search.
4a. Choose "no" when asked "Would you like to receive e-mail updates of new search results?" if you want to manually check for new references OR
4b. Choose "yes" when asked "Would you like to receive e-mail updates of new search results?" if you'd prefer to have new references sent to you via email.
5. Specify the frequency, format, and maximum number of citations you would like to receive per email alert.
6. Click "Save".

The following related videos are available on the PubMed website (turn up your speaker volume):

Saving Searches (4 min.)
Changing Saved Searches (2 min.)

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Creating Collections of References

It's easy to create collections of references using My NCBI. You can access your collections from any location after signing in to My NCBI. To create collections and save references to them:

1. Sign in to My NCBI.
2. Run a search.
3. Select the references you want to save by checking the box prior to each reference.
4. From the "Send To" menu choose "Collections".

5. To create a new collection, choose that option and name it.
6. To add these to an existing collection, choose "Append to an existing collection" and choose a collection from the drop-down menu.

You can access your saved searches and collections from any location. Just sign in to My NCBI and click on the appropriate link.

The following related videos are available on the PubMed website (turn up your speaker volume):

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Using Filters to Group Results

Filters allow you to group results based on your personal preferences. You can filter your search results in many NCBI databases. Available filters vary from database to database. In PubMed you can filter your results by publication type, language, and several other criteria. The example below shows how to display filter tabs in PubMed. To create filter tabs to group your results:

1. Sign in to My NCBI.
2. Choose "Search Filters" under "Table of Contents" on the left side of the page.
3. Select the database in which to create the filters. In this example we chose PubMed.
4. Choose "Frequently Requested Filters", "Browse Filters", or "Search Filters" and select your preferred filters. You can choose up to five filters.

After you run your searches in PubMed you will now see the filter tabs directly above the results. Click on one of the filter tabs to display only those references corresponding to the selected filter.

The following related videos are available on the PubMed website (turn up your speaker volume):

Filters (3 min.)
Links to Full Text from Your Library (3 min.)
Custom Filters (2 min.)

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Changing My NCBI Preferences

You can edit your preferences within My NCBI to change how items will display. For example, you can highlight your search terms when they appear within search results. You can also change the default display of references when you click on a reference link from within your search result set. To change your preferences:

1. Log in to My NCBI.
2. Select "Preferences" from the Table of Contents on the left side of the page.

Preferences