Test the Scope of a MeSH Heading

Start with the meaning of the concept

Write one sentence defining the population, exposure, or procedure that the review intends to capture. Open the MeSH Browser and look up the candidate descriptor. Read its scope note, entry terms, and position within the hierarchy. A familiar word can represent a more specific indexing concept than the same word in a clinical conversation.

Inspect the narrower descriptors underneath the candidate. Choose two that clearly meet the protocol and one near the boundary. Search each independently, examine sample records, and record what the broad heading contributes when narrower headings are included. Pair indexed terms with appropriate text words when recent or incompletely indexed records matter.

Document a hypothetical branch decision

Suppose a narrower branch retrieves 40 records. Twelve also occur in an existing text-word set, leaving 28 records for inspection. If four of those 28 report an eligible procedure, excluding the branch would lose at least those four known records from this particular comparison. The other 24 may still require screening under the protocol. The four observed examples do not estimate sensitivity across the entire literature.

Save the descriptor label, vocabulary year, relevant tree positions, and the screening rationale. Multiple positions can matter when a concept belongs to more than one hierarchy. Repeat the check when the vocabulary changes or when reviewers find an otherwise eligible paper indexed under an unexpected neighboring concept.

National Library of Medicine MeSH documentation

Related worksheet: MeSH revision impact worksheet.

Source checked on 5 November 2026.