Subject Headings/Thesauri

	New subject heading or thesauri term or phrase resulting or related to the research study is applied.

Subject headings and thesauri are examples of specific and precise terms or descriptors created by a publisher/vendor or agency for a particular subject.

One example of subject headings produced by an agency is the National Library of Medicine which is responsible for Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Staff at the National Library of Medicine revise and update MeSH annually based on new terms as they appear in the scientific literature or in emerging areas of research, and from other sources. The National Library of Medicine also encourages submission of suggestions for new terms.

An example of a thesaurus produced by a publisher/vendor is Elsevier’s Life Science Thesaurus, EMTREE. EMTREE has a record of updating drug terminology in response to the needs of user groups with hundreds of new terms added to EMTREE each year. Some recent terms added to EMTREE are micro RNA (2004), small interfering RNA (2004), nanomaterial (2007) and molecular therapy agent (2007).

Assessment

If a research study resulted in a new term or phrase, then it may be added to a list of subject headings and/or a thesaurus. If so, the publisher/vendor or agency can be contacted to obtain documentation of what sources were used to justify adding the new term or phrase.

Examples of medical subject headings and thesauri include:

• CINAHL Subject Headings
• EMTREE Thesaurus
• Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
• Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
• PsycINFO Thesaurus

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Last updated: April 27, 2009