PubMed
online database with abstracts of medical articles, hosted by US National Library of Medicine
PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which primarily includes the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez system of information retrieval.
From 1971 to 1997, online access to the MEDLINE database was provided via computer, using phone lines primarily through institutional facilities, such as university libraries. PubMed, first released in January 1996, ushered in the era of private, free, home and office-based MEDLINE searching. It was released alongside "Internet Grateful Med" (web-version of Grateful Med). In 2001 Grateful Med was deleted and entirely replaced by PubMed. The PubMed system was offered free to the public starting in June 1997.
Content
In addition to MEDLINE, PubMed provides access to:
older references from the print version of Index Medicus, back to 1951 and earlier
references to some journals before they were indexed in Index Medicus and MEDLINE, for instance Science, BMJ, and Annals of Surgery
very recent entries to records for an article before it is indexed with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and added to MEDLINE
a collection of books available full-text and other subsets of NLM records
PMC citations
NCBI Bookshelf
Many PubMed records contain links to full text articles, some of which are freely available, often in PubMed Central and local mirrors, such as Europe PubMed Central.
Information about the journals indexed in MEDLINE, and available through PubMed, is found in the NLM Catalog.
As of 15 March 2025, PubMed has more than 40 million citations and abstracts dating back to 1966, selectively to the year 1865, and highly selectively to 1809.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “PubMed” as online database with abstracts of medical articles, hosted by US National Library of Medicine. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as online database with abstracts of medical articles, hosted by US National Library of Medicine. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q180686. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1997, 1996 and 2001.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “PubMed”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow PubMed primary sources, PubMed archive and PubMed research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “PubMed”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “PubMed” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.