Using the References Query Form

This help document answers the following questions about the References Query Form:

What can I use the References Query Form to find?

The References query form enables you to search for and retrieve information related to one or more references. MGI is "reference driven" in that most data are extracted from journal articles and other scientific literature. The references comprise a "master bibliography" for the database. The results provide links to related data in MGI.

Some kinds of data, such as mouse physical mapping data from MIT, are downloaded from external databases. Appropriate references for these data are also provided.

You can search for references by author, journal, year, text (in the title or the abstract), PubMed or MGI ID, or a combination of these fields.


How do I fill in this query form?

Enter enough information in the search fields to narrow the search to a few references.


How do I search by author?

  1. The default is Any Author(s). Click First Author or Last Author if desired.
  2. Begin typing a partial name in the entry field. An autocomplete list appears.
  3. Select one item from the list. The author's name appears in the field, followed by a semicolon.
  4. To create a list of authors, repeat steps 2 and 3 as desired.
  5. Click Reset to clear this field.



How do I search by journal?

  1. Begin typing a partial journal name in the entry field. An autocomplete list of PubMed abbreviated format journal titles, MGI books, and MGI references appears.
  2. Select one item from the list. The journal name appears in the field, followed by a semicolon.
  3. To create a list of journals, repeat steps 1 and 2 as desired.
  4. Click Reset to clear this field.



How do I search by year?

To find references according to the year the article was published:


How do I search by text?

Enter a text string to search for articles with abstracts/titles containing the terms you enter.

The most relevant results appear at the top of the returned list (i.e. those containing all of the searched words. Words that match your search terms are highlighted in yellow.


How do I search by PubMed or MGI ID?

Enter a single or series of PubMed or MGI reference IDs (Note: Every reference stored in MGI has a J number of the form J:n....). Example: 18989690; 18192873; J:159210.


What can I do with the results of a references query?

Your References Query Form search results are shown with four sections, marked by light blue banners. If you are viewing the references by following a link, then you will see only two sections.

  1. Click to modify search: This option appears only after using the Reference Query Form. Click in the light blue banner in this section if you wish to modify your search. (The banner title changes to Click to Hide Search.) This section will expand to show the References Query Form with your original search parameters.
  2. Results: This option appears only after using the Reference Query Form. The Results section contains a summary of your search parameter(s) (for example, author name) and the number of results. If you have filtered your results, the filters used, the ability to remove filters, and the number of results after filtering will appear in the center of this section. The right hand side of this section allows you to page through your results and change the number of results viewed on a page.
  3. Filter references by: Use this section to filter your results, show all abstracts or create a text file of your results.
  4. The fourth banner shows the field headings for your results:

Click on the Author(s), Journal and Year column headings or the up/down arrowheads ( ▼ ▲) to change the sort order of your results.


How do I filter my results?

You can filter results by author, journal, year, data or reference type. In the banner above your results, after Filter References By: click the desired box. This will reduce your results to only those containing the checked items. This will allow you to further limit your results to specific authors, journals, years or a type of MGI curated data.

NOTE: If you get an error message such as "Too many Authors to filter." Modify your search or use another filter first.


Can I see abstracts?

You can view an abstract for each reference by clicking abstract► in the Title box) or view all abstracts (by clicking Show All Abstracts in the Filter References By: banner.


Can I get my results as a text file?

Yes. In your search results, at the right hand edge of the Filter references bar, click on the Text File icon. Your web browser will download a file of the references that remain after any filtering you may have performed. The file will contain the PubMed ID, authors, title and journal information for each reference.


Are there examples of queries and results for references?