Removing Case Reports from PubMed/MEDLINE Results

This helpful search tip was posted on CANMEDLIB.

In addition to the removing comments, letters, editorials, etc. from a results list, I’ve been asked to remove case reports.  I note that a citation can share many publication types (e.g. a meta-analysis of case reports), and I wonder if there is a safe way to remove these without losing potentially relevant citations.

I believe this would be similar to the approach of removing pure animal studies i.e., Animals/ NOT (Animals/ AND Humans/) so I think you could do something like the logic string, below.

Using PubMed as an example:

case reports[Publication Type] NOT (case reports[Publication Type] AND ("randomized controlled trial"[Publication Type] OR "controlled clinical trial"[Publication Type] OR "multicenter study"[Publication Type] OR clinical trial[Publication Type] OR "evaluation studies"[Publication Type] OR review[Publication Type] OR meta-analysis[Publication Type]))

The list of alternate publication types would have to be fairly extensive and I only show a selection, above.

Has anyone tried this? Are there any potential risks?

I have also posted this to the Expert-Searching listserv so apologies for cross-posting.

Many thanks for your help!

Becky

Becky Skidmore, BA(H), MLS

Medical Research Analyst / Analyste de recherche médicale

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada / La Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada (SOGC)

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