The NOT-NOT logic seems as though it shouldn't work but it is as perfect as a weird logic can be. We avoid putting and exp united states/ in the search as not all records include the US MeSH terms. (In Ovid Medline, an exploded MeSH term is shown with exp in front of the term and / at the end of the term.
Likewise, we avoid just not'ing out other countries as there may be comparative studies that include the US. NOT-NOT excludes any study that has the MeSH terms we DON'T want (whether it is country/continent based, age based, or human/animal based) but it keeps records that have the terms from the 2nd not phrase. It also keeps records with NO MeSH terms which are often some of the newest records.
Nope. Sorry, but extreme caution is being used to develop the limiters. MeSH terms guide the process and MeSH isn't, well, perfect. But these will remove a significant number of non-relevant records.
Run your search as usual. Copy the statement below, being sure you fill in the last line number of your search before hitting Enter.
last-line-number not ((exp africa/ or exp asia/ or exp australia/ or exp canada/ or exp central america/ or exp europe/ or exp greenland/ or exp mexico/ or exp south america/) not (north america/ or exp united states/))
WARNING! Do not use for systematic/scoping reviews. This filter is good for reducing many non-US studies that will remain after using the above filter but you may also lose studies in which the author's institutional affiliation does not indicate a state or country designation.
This is a 2-step process if you want studies: 1. conducted in the US and 2. conducted by US researchers .
last-line-number not ((exp africa/ or exp asia/ or exp australia/ or exp canada/ or exp central america/ or exp europe/ or exp greenland/ or exp mexico/ or exp south america/) not (north america/ or exp united states/))
last-line-number and (AK or AL or AR or (AS and ((community college OR pago OR samoa)) or AZ or CA or CO or CT or DC or DE or FL or GA or GU or HI or IA or ID or IL or IN or KS or KY or LA or MA or MD or ME or MI or MN or MO or MP or MS or MT or NC or ND or NE or NH or NJ or NM or NV or NY or OH or OK or PA or PR or RI or SC or SD or TN or TT or TX or UT or VA or VI or VT or WA or WI or WV or WY or Alaska or Arizona or Arkansas or "American Samoa" or American 96799 Samoa or California or Colorado or Connecticut or Delaware or "District of Columbia" or Florida or Georgia or Guam or Hawaii or Idaho or Illinois or Indiana or Iowa or Kansas or Kentucky or Louisiana or Maine or Maryland or Massachusetts or Michigan or Minnesota or Mississippi or Missouri or Montana or Nebraska or Nevada or "New Hampshire" or "New Jersey" or "New Mexico" or "New York" or "North Carolina" or "North Dakota" or "Northern Mariana Islands" or Ohio or Oklahoma or Oregon or Pennsylvania or "Puerto Rico" or "Rhode Island" or "South Carolina" or "South Dakota" or Tennessee or Texas or Utah or Vermont or Virginia or "Virgin Islands" or Washington or "West Virginia" or Wisconsin or Wyoming or "United States").in.
| Line # | Search statement | Comments on search statement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harm Reduction/ or ((harm or harms) adj2 (reduction* or minimization or prevention)).ti,ab,kf,kw. | Search for harm reduction |
| 2 | 1 not ((exp africa/ or exp asia/ or exp australia/ or exp canada/ or exp central america/ or exp europe/ or exp greenland/ or exp mexico/ or exp south america/) not (north america/ or exp united states/)) | Preferred filter to removed studies conducted outside the US |
| 3 | 2 and (AK or AL or AR or AS or AZ or CA or CO or CT or DC or DE or FL or GA or GU or HI or IA or ID or IL or IN or KS or KY or LA or MA or MD or ME or MI or MN or MO or MP or MS or MT or NC or ND or NE or NH or NJ or NM or NV or NY or OH or OK or PA or PR or RI or SC or SD or TN or TT or TX or UT or VA or VI or VT or WA or WI or WV or WY or Alaska or Arizona or Arkansas or "American Samoa" or California or Colorado or Connecticut or Delaware or "District of Columbia" or Florida or Georgia or Guam or Hawaii or Idaho or Illinois or Indiana or Iowa or Kansas or Kentucky or Louisiana or Maine or Maryland or Massachusetts or Michigan or Minnesota or Mississippi or Missouri or Montana or Nebraska or Nevada or "New Hampshire" or "New Jersey" or "New Mexico" or "New York" or "North Carolina" or "North Dakota" or "Northern Mariana Islands" or Ohio or Oklahoma or Oregon or Pennsylvania or "Puerto Rico" or "Rhode Island" or "South Carolina" or "South Dakota" or Tennessee or Texas or Utah or Vermont or Virginia or "Virgin Islands" or Washington or "West Virginia" or Wisconsin or Wyoming or "United States").in. |
Combine Line 2 (Harms + US filter) and the US institutional filter Limits studies conducted outside the US by US-affiliated researchers, i.e. filters to include US studies as much as possible. |
| 4 | 1 and (AK or AL or AR or AS or AZ or CA or CO or CT or DC or DE or FL or GA or GU or HI or IA or ID or IL or IN or KS or KY or LA or MA or MD or ME or MI or MN or MO or MP or MS or MT or NC or ND or NE or NH or NJ or NM or NV or NY or OH or OK or PA or PR or RI or SC or SD or TN or TT or TX or UT or VA or VI or VT or WA or WI or WV or WY or Alaska or Arizona or Arkansas or "American Samoa" or California or Colorado or Connecticut or Delaware or "District of Columbia" or Florida or Georgia or Guam or Hawaii or Idaho or Illinois or Indiana or Iowa or Kansas or Kentucky or Louisiana or Maine or Maryland or Massachusetts or Michigan or Minnesota or Mississippi or Missouri or Montana or Nebraska or Nevada or "New Hampshire" or "New Jersey" or "New Mexico" or "New York" or "North Carolina" or "North Dakota" or "Northern Mariana Islands" or Ohio or Oklahoma or Oregon or Pennsylvania or "Puerto Rico" or "Rhode Island" or "South Carolina" or "South Dakota" or Tennessee or Texas or Utah or Vermont or Virginia or "Virgin Islands" or Washington or "West Virginia" or Wisconsin or Wyoming or "United States").in. |
Combine Line 1 with US-institutional researchers. Studies can be conducted anywhere in the world. |
You can check a box to limit to human studies but here's the catch-- you are limiting to a MeSH term. The newest, most current citations do not have MeSH terms. Consequently, you are kicking out the most recent research by using the human limiter. The following method removes a significant number of animal and plant studies (but not all) without removing human studies. See below "Limit by age groups" for an example.
last-line-number not ((exp "Animals"/ or exp "Plants") not "Humans"/)
last-line-number not (("Humans"/ or exp "Plants") not exp "Animals"/)
In each of the filters below, studies that do have one or more populations in the first set of parentheses will be removed UNLESS the studies also have the MeSH term(s) found in the the 2nd not statement.
last-line-number not ((exp infant/ or exp child/ or adolescent/) not exp adult/)
last-line-number not ((exp infant/ or exp child/) not (adolescent/ or exp adult/))
last-line-number not ((exp infant/ or exp child/ or exp adult/) not (adolescent/))
last-line-number not ((exp infant/or adolescent/ or exp adult/) not exp child/)
last-line-number not ((exp infant/or exp adult/) not (adolescent/ or exp child/))
last-line-number not ((exp child/ or adolescent/ or exp adult/) not exp infant/)