PubMed has an advanced search page, which allows you to search using an array of modifiers, from MeSH to authors' names, to publication titles to grant numbers or volume numbers. Open the Advanced Search by clicking on the Advanced Search option below the general search bar. 

The Advanced Search Builder lets you add the terms as you go, and then they are compiled into a search statement. The marked dropdown menu, circled below, allows you to choose from many options, including Affiliation.

• If you want to search for information in several specific fields, like Author and Publication title, you will need to change the search fields sequentially as you go.
• One important option is the Title/Abstract fields, very often used for searching for articles for systematic reviews.
• The All Fields is the broadest search, and also where you can combine an author's name, a distinctive word or words from a title, and a year to draw up the related citation if it is in PubMed; for example: Doudna Crispr 2017

PubMed has the typical sidebar limits such as publication years, full-text availability, and whether the content is peer-reviewed. Under additional filters, it also has limiters for the article type, some of which are dependably useful, such as levels of clinical trials, and some that are surprising, like being able to limit to letters or festschrift.

1. Identify the key concepts for your search. 
2. Enter the terms (or key concepts) in the search box.
3. Press the Enter key or click Search.

For many searches, it is not necessary to use special tags or syntax. PubMed uses multiple tools to help you find relevant results:

• Best Match sort order uses a state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm to place the most relevant citations at the top of your results.
• An autocomplete feature displays suggestions as you type your search terms. This feature is based on PubMed query log analysis described in " Finding Query Suggestions for PubMed ."
• A spell checking feature suggests alternative spellings for search terms that may include misspellings.
• A citation sensor displays suggested results for searches that include terms characteristic of citation searching, e.g., author names, journal titles, publication dates, and article titles.

The MeSH Database provides: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh)

 • A searchable list of the vocabulary used for indexing PubMed articles, along with term definitions and scope

• Suggested older or superceded terms to use for searching earlier years of PubMed

• Suggested related MeSH terms

• The “MeSH Tree Structures”, a conceptual grouping of terms which enables the searcher to easily find broader or more specific terms. Choose the most specific term you can find.

• PubMed automatically searches not only any term you select but also searches all the terms found indented under it in the Tree. You may cancel out this function by clicking on the box next to the phrase “Do Not Explode This Term” in the middle of the screen.

• “Restrict Search to Major Topics”, an option which allows further focusing of a search by ensuring that the selected term will be a high priority topic of any article retrieved.

• As you select your terms using the MeSH thesaurus, you will also be able to select subheadings to make your search more specific. 

Adapted from PubMed Search at Brown University https://library.brown.edu/libweb/PubMedSearchGuide.pdf

To search for systematic reviews in PubMed:

• Use the Systematic Review article type filter on the sidebar OR

• Enter your search terms followed by AND systematic[sb] in the search box. For example, lyme disease AND systematic[sb].

• Enter your search terms followed by the publication type search tag [pt]. This may exclude recent relevant citations that aren't fully indexed. 

Note: the Systematic Review filter uses a search strategy in addition to limiting to to the Systematic Review publication type [pt] to find systematic reviews in PubMed.

To be more restrictive, and limit your search to only those citations with the Systematic Review publication type, use the publication type search tag[pt], i.e., systematic review[pt]; this may exclude some recent relevant citations that have not yet been fully indexed.