Search also for Synonyms, Explosion on Preferred Terminology

When this box is checked, two queries are run simultaneously:

  • The search term is mapped to its corresponding Emtree preferred term and exploded to include any narrower index terms as well.
  • A free text search is done in other data fields in the rest of the record (title, abstract, trade name, etc.) on the preferred term plus any synonyms associated with it.

The results are combined with a Boolean OR and posted as a single query number in Search Results.

This option is useful when the the most comprehensive possible retrieval on a search concept, especially a drug name, is needed. In Embase, preferred index terms usually retrieve almost all relevant records on a topic.  Occasionally, however, some may be missed, particularly in the older literature.  This is particularly true of drug names, which can change over time. A newly-developed drug may be published in the scientific literature and indexed in Embase under its chemical compound name, industrial laboratory code, trade or proprietary name or other nomenclature for some time before it receives a generic name (which is used in Embase for preferred terminology whenever possible).  Whenever a generic name or other preferred term is assigned, the old names are retained in Emtree as synonyms. 

Example:  When this option is chosen, a search for amoxicillin finds not only papers indexed with that name, but also those listed under its synonyms amopen, amoxicillin trihydrade, bristamox, BRL 2333, metifarma, pharmoxyl, zamocillin, wymox, and much more.

In other cases, a drug or other concept may be mentioned in an article title or abstract, but, for any number of reasons, may not appear in an index field.

The option to Search also on synonyms can therefore help capture these additional records that might otherwise "slip through the cracks."?