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A PMID (PubMed Identifier or PubMed Unique Identifier^[1]) is a unique number assigned to each PubMed citation of life sciences and biomedical scientific journal articles. The related Pubmed Central archive may additionally assign a separate number, a PMCID (PubMed Central Identifier), normally written with a PMC prefix.

As of 2005^[update], there are roughly between 15 and 16 million PMID numbers in use, starting from 1,^[2] and about 1 million new numbers are added each year. Unique Identifier [UID] is the search field tag used in the PubMed search query.

By using the PMID as a search argument (with or without the [uid] field tag), the relevant abstract will be displayed by PubMed. Multiple PMIDs in one search will yield all abstracts (it is interpreted as an OR operation). PMID itself should not be included in the search.

Example: to search for Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al. (May 2003). "The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure: the JNC 7 report". JAMA 289 (19): 2560–72. doi:10.1001/jama.289.19.2560. PMID 12748199. 

Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed

Enter 12748199 in the search box.

To search in combination with other terms, one must enter the search field tag, e.g., smith [au] AND (10403340 [uid] OR vaccines [mh]).

You can also enter the PMID number in Entrez at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

[edit] References

1. ^ "Search Field Descriptions and Tags". National Center for Biotechnology Information. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=helppubmed.section.pubmedhelp.Search_Field_Descrip. Retrieved 27 November 2008. 
2. ^ Makar AB, McMartin KE, Palese M, Tephly TR (June 1975). "Formate assay in body fluids: application in methanol poisoning". Biochemical Medicine 13 (2): 117–26. doi:10.1016/0006-2944(75)90147-7. PMID 1. 

• Creating a direct Web Link to the Entrez Databases

[edit] External links

• pmid.us – short form linking service using PMID's