Thursday, June 8, 2023

Clinically Useful Journals Subset and How You can Use It to Limit PubMed Search Results to the Most Clinically Relevant Citations



In 2020, PubMed eliminated the AIM / Core Clinical Journals subset / filter because it had not been reviewed or updated in a very long time.  The Abridged Index Medicus (AIM) was the list of journals covered in the  hardcopy publication “Abridged Index Medicus”, which ceased with the December 1997 issue.  Until early 2020, the AIM  journal list was also used online as a search subset limit or filter called "Core Clinical Journals" in PubMed.

For those of us who frequently search PubMed, this should have been a handy filter to limit search results to be more useful and practical for Clinicians taking care of patients with common health conditions.  However, because the journal subset had not been updated in many years, its utility was limited.

research study showed that 

  • only 30% of clinically-used articles were from the 50- year-old CCJ filter and 
  • only 16% of clinically-used journals were represented in Core titles

The list desperately needed an update.

Fortunately, Michele Klein-Fedyshin and a team of Health Science Librarians (along with a statistician) worked to update the list using current best evidence and real world clinical usage data.  With their careful analysis, some titles fell off the list; Others were added covering entirely new medical specialties (gastroenterology, urology, etc.) not recognized in the old core journals list.  

And thus was born: The Clinically Useful Journals List

PubMed declined to officially implement this updated filter, saying that it needs to be continuously reviewed and updated for NLM to adopt it.  But there is another option:

Similar to NLM's DIY workaround for the retired Nursing Journals Filter, individuals can save the following search strategy in MyNCBI and apply it when needed.

Watch the video on How to Save PubMed Searches to learn how to save and maintain your own topic-specific PubMed searches.    Copy and paste the strategy below ...


You only need to copy and save this search strategy once in your MyNCBI in order to pull it up again in future when you need it.

"AACN Adv Crit Care"[Journal] OR "Acad Emerg Med"[Journal] OR "Acad Med"[Journal] OR "Addict Behav"[Journal] OR "Age Ageing"[Journal] OR "AJR Am J Roentgenol"[Journal] OR "Allergy"[Journal] OR "Am Fam Physician"[Journal] OR "Am Heart J"[Journal] OR "Am J Epidemiol"[Journal] OR "Am J Gastroenterol"[Journal] OR "Am J Hematol"[Journal] OR "Am J Kidney Dis"[Journal] OR "Am J Med Genet A"[Journal] OR "Am J Med"[Journal] OR "Am J Nurs"[Journal] OR "Am J Obstet Gynecol"[Journal] OR "Am J Prev Med"[Journal] OR "Am J Psychiatry"[Journal] OR "Am J Respir Crit Care Med"[Journal] OR "Am J Sports Med"[Journal] OR "Am J Surg Pathol"[Journal] OR "Am J Med Sci"[Journal] OR "Anesth Analg"[Journal] OR "Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol"[Journal] OR "Ann Emerg Med"[Journal] OR "Ann Intern Med"[Journal] OR "Ann Neurol"[Journal] OR "Ann Oncol"[Journal] OR "Ann Pharmacother"[Journal] OR "Ann Surg"[Journal] OR "Ann Surg Oncol"[Journal] OR "Ann Rheum Dis"[Journal] OR "Ann Thorac Surg"[Journal] OR "Arch Dis Child"[Journal] OR "Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed"[Journal] OR "Arch Phys Med Rehabil"[Journal] OR "Arthritis Rheumatol"[Journal] OR "Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken)"[Journal] OR "Arthroscopy"[Journal] OR "Autoimmun Rev"[Journal] OR "Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol"[Journal] OR "Biol Psychiatry"[Journal] OR "BJOG"[Journal] OR "BJU Int"[Journal] OR "Blood"[Journal] OR "BMJ"[Journal] OR "Bone Marrow Transplant"[Journal] OR "Brain"[Journal] OR "Breastfeed Med"[Journal] OR "Br J Anaesth"[Journal] OR "Br J Cancer"[Journal] OR "Br J Dermatol"[Journal] OR "Br J Haematol"[Journal] OR "Br J Ophthalmol"[Journal] OR "Br Med Bull"[Journal] OR "CA Cancer J Clin"[Journal] OR "Cancer"[Journal] OR "Cancer Treat Rev"[Journal] OR "Catheter Cardiovasc Interv"[Journal] OR "Chest"[Journal] OR "Circulation"[Journal] OR "Clin Biochem"[Journal] OR "Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon)"[Journal] OR "Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol"[Journal] OR "Clin Infect Dis"[Journal] OR "Clin Obstet Gynecol"[Journal] OR "Clin Pharmacol Ther"[Journal] OR "Clin Ther"[Journal] OR "Clin Podiatr Med Surg"[Journal] OR "CMAJ"[Journal] OR "Comput Inform Nurs"[Journal] OR "Crit Care Med"[Journal] OR "Curr Opin Cardiol"[Journal] OR "Curr Opin Gastroenterol"[Journal] OR "Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens"[Journal] OR "Curr Opin Pediatr"[Journal] OR "Curr Opin Rheumatol"[Journal] OR "Diabetes Care"[Journal] OR "Diabetes Res Clin Pract"[Journal] OR "Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis"[Journal] OR "Dig Dis Sci"[Journal] OR "Dis Colon Rectum"[Journal] OR "Drug Alcohol Depend"[Journal] OR "Early Hum Dev"[Journal] OR "Epilepsia"[Journal] OR "Epilepsy Behav"[Journal] OR "Europace"[Journal] OR "Eur Heart J"[Journal] OR "Eur J Cancer"[Journal] OR "Eur J Cardiothorac Surg"[Journal] OR "Eur J Heart Fail"[Journal] OR "Eur J Intern Med"[Journal] OR "Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging"[Journal] OR "Eur J Radiol"[Journal] OR "Eur Urol"[Journal] OR "Fertil Steril"[Journal] OR "Gastroenterology"[Journal] OR "Gastrointest Endosc"[Journal] OR "Gut"[Journal] OR "Gynecol Oncol"[Journal] OR "Head Neck"[Journal] OR "Headache"[Journal] OR "Health Aff (Millwood)"[Journal] OR "Heart"[Journal] OR "Heart Rhythm"[Journal] OR "Hepatology"[Journal] OR "Hum Pathol"[Journal] OR "Hum Reprod"[Journal] OR "Hypertension"[Journal] OR "Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol"[Journal] OR "Int J Antimicrob Agents"[Journal] OR "Int J Cancer"[Journal] OR "Int J Cardiol"[Journal] OR "Int J Clin Pract"[Journal] OR "Int J Obes"[Journal] OR "Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys"[Journal] OR "Int Urogynecol J"[Journal] OR "JAMA"[Journal] OR "JAMA Dermatol"[Journal] OR "JAMA Intern Med"[Journal] OR "JAMA Neurol"[Journal] OR "JAMA Ophthalmol"[Journal] OR "JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg"[Journal] OR "JAMA Pediatr"[Journal] OR "JAMA Psychiatry"[Journal] OR "JAMA Surg"[Journal] OR "J Healthc Qual"[Journal] OR "J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr"[Journal] OR "J Adv Nurs"[Journal] OR "J Allergy Clin Immunol"[Journal] OR "J Altern Complement Med"[Journal] OR "J Bone Joint Surg Am"[Journal] OR "J Card Fail"[Journal] OR "J Clin Endocrinol Metab"[Journal] OR "J Clin Gastroenterol"[Journal] OR "J Clin Neurosci"[Journal] OR "J Clin Oncol"[Journal] OR "J Clin Pathol"[Journal] OR "J Clin Psychol"[Journal] OR "J Clin Psychopharmacol"[Journal] OR "J Emerg Med"[Journal] OR "J Foot Ankle Surg"[Journal] OR "J Gen Intern Med"[Journal] OR "J Hand Surg Am"[Journal] OR "J Hepatol"[Journal] OR "J Hosp Infect"[Journal] OR "J Hosp Med"[Journal] OR "J Infect"[Journal] OR "J Infect Dis"[Journal] OR "J Intern Med"[Journal] OR "J Invest Dermatol"[Journal] OR "J Med Genet"[Journal] OR "J Midwifery Womens Health"[Journal] OR "J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry"[Journal] OR "J Nurs Adm"[Journal] OR "J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs"[Journal] OR "J Occup Environ Med"[Journal] OR "J Oral Maxillofac Surg"[Journal] OR "J Orthop Sports Phys Ther"[Journal] OR "J Orthop Trauma"[Journal] OR "J Pain Symptom Manage"[Journal] OR "J Palliat Med"[Journal] OR "J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr"[Journal] OR "J Pediatr Hematol Oncol"[Journal] OR "J Pediatr Orthop"[Journal] OR "J Pediatr Surg"[Journal] OR "J Perinatol"[Journal] OR "J Psychopharmacol"[Journal] OR "J Subst Abuse Treat"[Journal] OR "J Surg Oncol"[Journal] OR "J Am Coll Cardiol"[Journal] OR "J Am Geriatr Soc"[Journal] OR "J Am Med Dir Assoc"[Journal] OR "J Am Med Inform Assoc"[Journal] OR "J Natl Cancer Inst"[Journal] OR "J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg"[Journal] OR "J Thromb Haemost"[Journal] OR "J Trauma Acute Care Surg"[Journal] OR "J Urol"[Journal] OR "J Vasc Surg"[Journal] OR "JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr"[Journal] OR "Kidney Int"[Journal] OR "Lancet"[Journal] OR "Laryngoscope"[Journal] OR "Leukemia"[Journal] OR "Liver Transpl"[Journal] OR "Med Care"[Journal] OR "Med Clin North Am"[Journal] OR "Med Lett Drugs Ther"[Journal] OR "Medicine (Baltimore)"[Journal] OR "Mod Pathol"[Journal] OR "Mol Genet Metab"[Journal] OR "Mov Disord"[Journal] OR "Muscle Nerve"[Journal] OR "Nephrol Dial Transplant"[Journal] OR "Neurology"[Journal] OR "Neurosurgery"[Journal] OR "N Engl J Med"[Journal] OR "Nursing"[Journal] OR "Obesity (Silver Spring)"[Journal] OR "Obstet Gynecol Surv"[Journal] OR "Obstet Gynecol"[Journal] OR "Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol"[Journal] OR "Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg"[Journal] OR "Pain"[Journal] OR "Pain Med"[Journal] OR "Patient Educ Couns"[Journal] OR "Pediatr Dermatol"[Journal] OR "Pediatr Infect Dis J"[Journal] OR "Pediatrics"[Journal] OR "Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf"[Journal] OR "Plast Reconstr Surg"[Journal] OR "Postgrad Med J"[Journal] OR "Prev Med"[Journal] OR "Prim Care"[Journal] OR "Psychiatr Serv"[Journal] OR "QJM"[Journal] OR "Radiographics"[Journal] OR "Radiology"[Journal] OR "Radiother Oncol"[Journal] OR "Respir Med"[Journal] OR "Semin Dial"[Journal] OR "Semin Nucl Med"[Journal] OR "Semin Perinatol"[Journal] OR "Semin Respir Crit Care Med"[Journal] OR "Semin Ultrasound CT MR"[Journal] OR "Sex Transm Dis"[Journal] OR "Sex Transm Infect"[Journal] OR "Soc Sci Med"[Journal] OR "South Med J"[Journal] OR "Spine (Phila Pa 1976)"[Journal] OR "Stat Methods Med Res"[Journal] OR "Stat Med"[Journal] OR "Stroke"[Journal] OR "Thorax"[Journal] OR "Thromb Res"[Journal] OR "Thyroid"[Journal] OR "Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol"[Journal] OR "Vaccine"[Journal] OR "World Neurosurg"[Journal]


Search Strategy last reviewed 15 June 2023.


Here is the older article about this project:


Klein-Fedyshin M, Ketchum AM, Arnold RM, Fedyshin PJ. Evaluating the MEDLINE Core Clinical Journals filter: data-driven evidence assessing clinical utility. J Eval Clin Pract. 2014 Dec;20(6):837-43. Epub 2014 Jun 6. PMID: 24904958. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jep.12190

The new article will be published in JMLA in July 2023 with 7 appendixes, including the titles:

Klein-Fedyshin M, Ketchum AM. PubMed’s Core Clinical Journals Filter: Redesigned for Contemporary Clinical impact and Utility. J Med Libr Assoc. 2023 Jul;111(3): Forthcoming


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