General Subject Index

• subjects
• classes of chemical substances
• applications
• uses
• properties
• reactions
• apparatuses
• processes
• genus and species names
• biological and medical terminology

The General Subject Index contains two types of information:

• Index Heading (bolface print)
  • The vocabulary of the index headings is subject to rigid control.
• Index entries, text modifcations (in lightface print)
  • The text modificaions are not subject to control. These text modifications to individual abstracts are extracted from the original paper and therefore contain the nomenclature and terminology of that particular author. They are phrases from natural language.

Before beginning a literature search, it is necessary to ascertain whether the concept belongs to the controlled vocabulary - the Index Guide is indispensable for this purpose.

The General Subject Index frequently contains concepts expressed in broad, general terms. Thus, a concept may be followed by an extensive list of abstract citations. To help narrow a search, heading subdivisions may be assigned. There are seven standard qualifiers:

• -analysis
• -biological studies
• -occurence
• -preparations
• -properties
• -reactions
• -uses and miscellaneous

For special fields, other appropriate subdivisions may be chosen:

For biological and medical concepts the "organ and tissue" qualifiers are used:

• -composition
• -disease or disorder
• -metabolism
• -neoplasm
• -toxic chemical or physical damage

• -biological effects
• -chemical and physical effects

Document type information is also included in the General Subject Index. Abstract numbers beginning with a B are new book listings, abstracts preceded by an R refer to review articles, those preceded by a P refer to patent docuemnts - all others cite journal articles.

Hint: Review articles map the publishing activity associated with a subject. A review article will usually report all papers of note published on a topic.