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Martin Thomas, MD
Mannheim, Germany

JAMA. 1996;276(7):527.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

—Sloppy use of terminology has never been a sign of good research. Dr Schmieder and colleagues¹ state that they used the databases MEDLINE, DIMDI, RINGDOC, "ADES," and EMBASE as data sources. Three of these 5 terms (60%) are wrong, outdated, or incorrect. DIMDI (ie, Deutsches Institut füer Medizinische Dokumentation und Information) is not a database, but a German database host, offering an array of more than 90 databases in the medical field, including MEDLINE. The database RINGDOC changed its name several years ago to DERWENT DRUG FILE when it became available to users outside the pharmaceutical industry. The proper spelling for "ADES" is ADIS, a database offered by ADIS Press Inc in New Zealand.

From the collection of terms that the authors used, it is obvious that they as well as many other end users did not care to delve into the intricacies of the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) thesaurus, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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