Getting Started

Search and monitor a database of 65+ million biomedical citations including

abstracts, trials, patents, grants, news articles, and drug labels that have been
indexed with AI and NLP technology.

This quick guide will review the core functionality of DocSearch including how
to draft and refine a search strategy, engage with the evidence base through
interactive data visualization tools, and save a search for real-time monitoring.

Table of Contents:
• Getting Started
• Data Sources/How to
Run a Search
• Utilizing Search Operators
2
• Reviewing/Refining a
Search
• Saving/Sharing a Search
• Exporting Search Results
• Identifying KOLs Navigate to the log in page with the following link:
https://launch.doctorevidence.com/ or your
• Real-World Evidence company’s SSO link
1. Log in using your username and password.
2. Click the DocSearch tile to enter the platform.

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 Data Sources/How to Run a Search
What data sources are included?
• PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO-ICTRP, NIH grants, patents, DailyMed, EPAR, CORD-
19, congress abstracts, and RSS Feeds
• All sources are updated daily, RSS feeds updated hourly
• Sources and current reference counts can be found on the homepage

How do I run a search?

1. Enter desired search terms into the search bar, selecting from the dropdown of
suggested terms
• Selecting terms from the dropdown automatically searches on synonyms
• Use Boolean operators to build your strategy (see Search Operators)
2. Use ‘umbrella’ terms to search on multiple meanings of a term or select the desired
usage of the term (example: Hepatitis C, the virus vs the infection)
3. Click the pink magnifying glass to run your search
3
1

Terms selected from the

dropdown appear as blue or
pink tokens

Can I search by keyword?

4. Yes, selecting the “Search for ___ in article text” option at the bottom of the
suggestion list will search for exact mentions of your term or phrase
• This keyword search will not include any synonyms but is not case sensitive

Keyword terms appear as

white tokens
4

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 Search Operators

How do Boolean operators work?

Boolean operators are a set of commands used to connect search terms to define the logic
of the search criteria. The same terms connected by different operators will yield different
search results.
• OR – either or both terms can be present in the reference
• AND – both terms must be present in the reference. It is not necessary to include this
operator in DocSearch, ‘and’ logic is assumed if nothing else separates terms
• Parentheses are needed to group ‘or’ terms when combined with other operators

Here, the search requires a

‘rheumatoid arthritis’ term and
either ‘adult’, ‘elderly’, or both.

How do I exclude concepts or synonyms?

Use a NOT operator to exclude concepts or terms
1. Exclude entire concepts by selecting terms from the dropdown
• Below, the NOT operator excludes articles with an adolescent population
2. Exclude unwanted synonyms of a term by entering as a keyword. Don’t select this
term from the dropdown!
• Below, the NOT operator excludes studies mentioning the unwanted synonym
“Proliferative Arthritis”
1 2

How do I search a specific section of the reference? 3

Limit your search to a specific section with an operator
3. Type “In” to the search bar after term and select one of
the following options:
• Title, abstract, title/abstract, author affiliation, sponsor,
journal, criteria, study center, congress
4. Apply an operator to multiple terms by grouping with
parentheses
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 Reviewing/Refining a Search

Can I review the synonyms included in my search?

1. Click the Eye icon to the right of a term in the Concept Analysis widget to view
the synonyms, definitions, and vocabularies
• Direct synonyms are found in ‘Alternative labels’
• Child concepts or subtypes are found in ‘Also included’

How do I review the references?

After conducting a search, the list of references found will appear in the Results List on
the right-hand side of the dashboard
2. Depending on your screen size, either click the menu icon and select Expand
all Items or click the Arrow icon at the top of the results list to expand abstracts
in-line for quick review
3. Click the title of a reference to view in more detail, including links to the full
text, linked references (if applicable), similar articles, and more.

2 2

Tip: Use tags to

favorite or
categorize
references

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 Reviewing/Refining a Search

How do I use the widgets to refine my search?

1. Refine your search by clicking on topics or terms of interest depicted in the widgets.
• Click on any top term, gender, age, data source, or publication type
• Click on countries of interest in the geography heat map
Choose to filter for countries mentioned in the study, study center location, or the author’s
affiliation location
• Filter clinical trials by phase and/or status
• Select a date rage of interest on the timeline
2. DocSearch will automatically construct the syntax of your search as you interact
with the widgets, filter down the results list, and update the widgets
• The terms or concepts applied are visible below the main search bar

1 1 1

How do I reset or add filters to my search?

• To remove all filters, click Reset. Clear individual filters
by unselecting them from the widget
• Click Promote to add to the filtered terms or
concepts to your search criteria. You’ll see them
jump into the main search bar.
Note that you can always edit your search in the search bar! If you change your mind about any
promoted terms or concepts use your backspace key to delete.

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 Saving/Sharing a Search

How do I save a search?

1. Click Save your Search at the top of the results list
2. Give your search a title and add a description or notes, if desired
3. Customize the frequency and content of email alerts and click Add

How do I share a search with colleagues?

4. Click Share your search at the top of the results list
5. Type in a message for additional context
6. Type in your colleagues' name or email and click the Paper Airplane icon

Note that your

colleagues will be
available to share
5
with once they
have logged in to
DocSearch once
6

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 Exporting Search Results
How do I export the reference list?
1. Depending on your screen size, either click the Download button at the top of the
items list or click the menu icon and select Export items
2. Select the desired export format and click Download
3. To export selected references, click the checkboxes next to the reference number
before exporting
1 1

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3

Can I download the information provided in

widgets?
Yes! All widgets have a menu icon in the top right-
hand corner with an option to export
Export top terms, geographic distribution, number
of references published per year, clinical trial
phase and status, etc.

How can I document the search strategy?

• Click the menu icon in the top right corner of
Concept Analysis
• Click Search terms export to download a
word document containing the full
DocSearch search strategy

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 Identifying KOLs

How do I investigate Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)?

• Review the top authors from your search in the Influential Authors widget as a list or graph
• Influential authors are determined by an algorithm and relative influence is displayed
visually by the size of the bar in list form and size of the bubble in graph form

How do I filter for authors or working groups?

• Click the desired author’s name in the list or click
on bubbles in the graph to filter your results

Can I export the top authors and their info?

• Click the menu icon in the top right corner of the widget
• Select the number of top authors you’d like to export
• Click Export to CSV to download
• The export will appear at the top of your screen

How do I find more information on an

individual author?
• Hover over the desired author in the list
and click the Eye Icon to the right
• View contact information, key interests,
top interventions, affiliations, recent
bibliography, and frequent collaborators

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 Real-World Evidence
How do I identify real-world evidence (RWE)?
There are two ways to apply the Doctor Evidence RWE machine learning algorithm
1. Click Real World Evidence in the publication type widget after running a search
2. Type “Real World Evidence” in the search bar and select the algorithm from the
suggestion list

What does the real-world evidence (RWE) filter include?

• Accepted study designs: non-randomized, observational & prognostic
course/factor studies
• Rejected study designs: phase 1-3 RCTs, case reports/series & modeling studies
• Accepted sources: claims data, clinical studies with data from routine care,
healthcare settings (e.g., EHR, patient registries), pharmacy prescription records,
social media and online platforms (e.g., patient advocacy groups, data from
smartphones and wearable devices

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