esearch

Esearch is a command line tool provided by the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) to search for biomedical literature using the Entrez search engine. It is a part of the Entrez Direct package, which is a collection of programs to help retrieve data from Entrez databases. Esearch allows users to search different databases such as PubMed, PubMed Central, Gene, and others, and retrieve information related to specific terms or keywords. It supports a range of search options, including simple text queries, Boolean operators, filters, and complex queries using field qualifiers. Users can also specify the number of results they want to retrieve and the format in which they want the results to be displayed. Esearch can be used interactively in a terminal or in scripts for automation and batch processing. The tool provides features like history tracking, which allows users to revisit previous searches and combine or modify them for new queries. Esearch also supports advanced search strategies, such as using the advanced search syntax supported by the Entrez system. It is a powerful tool for researchers, clinicians, and anyone involved in the biomedical field to explore and extract information from the vast collection of literature available in various NCBI databases. Overall, Esearch simplifies the process of searching and accessing biomedical literature, making it a valuable resource for information retrieval in the scientific community.