Things You'll Need:
- A computer with internet access.
- Basic experience using internet search engines.
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Step 1
Access the PubMed website at http://www.pubmed.gov or just search for "PubMed" on Google and click on the first search result. The displayed address when you get there, no matter what route you take, will be http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
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Step 2
Type in whatever you want to research in the search box at the top of the page and click on the "Go" button or press enter. The search engine automatically defaults to search PubMed; searches of other available databases beyond the scope of this eHow.
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Step 3
View the results and understand what you are looking at. The results will be displayed in the form of clickable titles of the articles, along with authorships, journal information and the publication year. If no results are returned, check for spelling errors (PubMed will sometimes display a clickable "Did you mean: ...") or try a new search.
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Step 4
Scan the results and make a selection. Chances are, unless you are a very familiar with the search topic, there will be results laden with scientific jargon not readily understood. Don't be intimidated, simply find the result that has what you are looking for and click on the title to view the abstract. The abstract is a condensed version of article that tells you why the work was performed, how it was performed, what results were seen, and what conclusions were made.
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Step 5
Read the abstract, if available, and decide if it is pertinent to your original search and contains some, or all, of the information you are looking for. If so, proceed to the next step. If not, return to the original results by clicking on the back button just like any other search engine.
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Step 6
Check if the entire article is accessible by looking for a link on the right hand side of the page that indicates "Free Full Text" or something similar. Since 2007, more articles have become free to view since any journal supported by NIH funding must make itself free to anyone. Other links to full text usually require an institutional subscription; check with your school or employer for availability.
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Step 7
Don't despair if you can't get the full text of the article, a well written abstract should have the essentials and at minimum provide a spring board to other searches. Especially useful is the "Related Articles" preview on the right hand side of the page listing article titles related to the one you are viewing, with their respective journal titles and publication years. Click on any of those article titles, or click on "See All" under the preview pane to bring the standard results screen with all the related articles.
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Step 8
Keep searching! Like any other tool, PubMed becomes easier to use with practice and experimentation.
