Seems that there is a problem with the ‘Last Author’ search option in PubMed library with EndNote.
A ‘Last Author’ search in PubMed is possible using the [LASTAU] field tag. On PubMed Website a search for publication by Elizabeth H. Blackburn give the following results:
The same search in EndNote X4 using PubMed (NLM) connection file provides the following results
Last Author CONTAINS Blackburn_EH -> 181 entries
First Author CONTAINS Blackburn_EH -> 38 entries
Author CONTAINS Blackburn_EH -> 181 entries.
EndNote search for ‘Author’ and ‘First Author’ fields are consistent with the online results provided by the search on PubMed webpage. In contrast, it seems that the ‘Last Author’ search option is not working properly since it gives the same number of entries than the ‘Author’ search.
Is it possible to fix this problem? If yes, how, since the Search Attributes in the PubMed (NLM) connection file from EndNote X4 seems correct.
I was able to reproduce this behavior with EndNote versions X3 and X4. Looking at the Search Attributes tab for the PubMed connection file, it appears EndNote is processing the last author search with a tag of “LAST” and not “LASTAU”. However, when I try to customize the connection file to change the defined tag to LASTAU, those last two characters are removed once the connection file is saved and closed. I will be sure to report this issue. For now, I would suggest performing last author searches on the PubMed website and importing those references into EndNote from a text file.
Thanks for the quick answer. Had this problem with version X3, too. Yes it seems that EndNote does not support more than 4 characters for the ‘Use’ search attributes. It is therefore not specific for the LASTAU tag, but any tag containing more than 4 characters will be truncated.
One more question related to LASTAU / 1AU search. As mentionned in my previous message, it is now possible to perform a first author search in EndNote (EndNote employs the 1AU search tag). However, is it possible to retrieve the data corresponding to 1AU in an EndNote library entry? I tried to customise the PubMed (NLM) connection file in order to include the ‘1AU -’ tag in the ‘Templates’ tab (see my customised *.enz file in attachment), but I never succeed in retrieving the first author name (nb. in my library, the ‘First Author’ field corresponds to the ‘Custom 5’ field).
So, is there anything wrong with my customised connection file or does it mean that currently you can search for 1st author data but cannot retrieve them?
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Gaston
P.S. I switch to 1AU tag in the discussion, because of the current problem with LASTAU tag. But my aim would be to retrieve LASTAU data in a custom field of my library.
Just to follow-up on my last post- The limit of four characters for the “Use” field within EndNote connection files is intentional, so in that regard EndNote is functioning as designed when truncating more than four characters within that field. We are looking into expanding this functionality, but in the interim, we’re checking with our Content team to see if the ‘Last Author’ search option of the PubMed connection file should be removed until then.
Regarding your second query, the raw record data returned to EndNote by PubMed does not differentiate the first author or last author of a reference with a unique tag. Take a look at the connect.log file I’ve attached to my post. You will see the raw data that was returned to EndNote after querying PubMed for ‘First Author’ contains ‘Blackburn E H’.
Best Regards,
Jimmy M.
Customer Technical Support Representative Scientific
Thomson Reuters
Phone: +1 800 336 4474
ResearchSoft Product Support
Thanks for your reply. Concerning the ‘Last Author’ search option of the PubMed connection file. Here is another answer that I got directly from the Thomson Reuters Technical Support.
Following their recommendation, I have submitted a request in order to update the PubMed connection file.
Regards,
Gaston
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Dear Gaston Longtarin,
Thank you for contacting Thomson Reuters Technical Support. We are happy to assist you.
The search algorithm that PubMed is letting us use is not searching the right set of fields. The connection file is using a term that is searching a pre-selected set of fields. PubMed has since updated their search mechanism to return the records correctly but they did not update the search mechanism that EndNote uses to bring back the records correctly.
However, I would recommend you to submit a request in the suggestions form below,