Setting up Database Alerts

 

Stop Chasing Evidence - Make It Come to You:
Setting up Database Alerts

Keeping up to date in modern healthcare is difficult especially when you look at the numbers:

📊 75+ new trials published DAILY in medicine

📚 11 systematic reviews published DAILY

🔬 2.5 million new articles published YEARLY in biomedical journals 

⏰ Average clinician has 15 minutes per week for professional reading

You can't possibly keep up by manually checking databases, journals, and guidelines websites every day. Setting up an Ovid Medline AutoAlert keeps you updated at a frequency to suit you and catches new research the moment it's published, even if it uses different terminology than you'd normally search.

Setting up your first Ovid Medline AutoAlert

Step 1: Build Your Search

Log into OVID Medline via the NHS Knowledge & Library Hub (the databases can be found under Further Resources on the left hand sidebar)

Start with a focused clinical question. Let's say you're interested in managing Type 2 diabetes with lifestyle interventions.

Basic search in OVID:

1. (type 2 diabetes OR diabetes mellitus type 2 OR T2DM).ti,ab.

2. (diet OR exercise OR lifestyle OR weight loss).ti,ab.

3. (management OR treatment OR intervention).ti,ab.

4. 1 AND 2 AND 3

Why this works:

• .ti,ab. searches title and abstract only (more focused)
• OR catches different terms for the same thing
• AND combines your concepts (using line numbers)
• Result: Focused, relevant articles

Pro tip: Use MeSH headings for even better results:

1. exp Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/

2. (lifestyle OR diet OR exercise).ti,ab.

3. (management OR treatment).ti,ab.

4. 1 AND 2 AND 3

5. limit 4 to (english language and yr="2024-Current")

exp = "explode" (includes narrower MeSH terms automatically)

Step 2: Test Your Search

• Run your search in Ovid Medline
• Check the results - aim for 5-15 new articles per week
• Too many? Add more specific terms with AND
• Too few? Remove some terms or use OR for more synonyms

Step 3: Create the Alert

• Once your search gives good results, click "Create Auto-Alert" (toolbar icon)

• Sign in to your OVID account (or create one - free with NHS Athens)
• Name your search: e.g. "T2DM Lifestyle Management"
• Choose frequency under scheduling options: Weekly (recommended)

•       Choose your delivery options remembering to add your email address. Add an Email Subject line that you will recognise. Choose what you want your email to contain such as the bibliographic record, abstract and a link to the article (include external/resolver link)

• Click "Save"

Step 4: Manage Your Alerts

Access your alerts anytime:

• Log into OVID Medline via the NHS Knowledge & Library Hub
• Click "View Saved" (top right), then select AutoAlert (SDI) searches

•      Edit, delete, or temporarily pause alerts
•      View search strategy to remember what you set up

Common OVID Medline Alert Mistakes to Avoid:

❌ Too broad: "diabetes" (you'll get 1000+ articles weekly)
✅ Just right: "diabetes.ti,ab. AND lifestyle.ti,ab."

❌ Daily frequency: Email overload
✅ Weekly frequency: Manageable and sustainable

❌ Forgetting field tags: Searches everything including references
✅ Using .ti,ab.: Focuses on title and abstract only

❌ Never testing first: You don't know what you'll get
✅ Test, refine, then save: Ensures useful results

 

If you would like any help setting up your AutoAlert’s on OVID Medline  or creating a suitable search strategy, please email the Clinical Librarians at mtw-tr.clinical.libarians@nhs.net. We can also advise on setting up alerts in other databases as well.

Further resources:

Creating an AutoAlert (Ovid Help Guide)

AutoAlert Tutorial (Ovid Video)