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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a hierarchically-organized terminology for indexing and cataloging of biomedical information. It is used for the indexing of PubMed and other NLM databases. Please see the Terms and Conditions for more information regarding the use and re-use of MeSH. NLM produces Medical Subject Headings XML, ASCII, MARC 21 and RDF formats.
Updates to the data files are made according to the following schedule:
MeSH XML
MeSH Descriptor files updated annually
MeSH Qualifier files updated annually
MeSH Supplemental Concept Records (SCR) updated daily (Monday - Friday)
MeSH ASCII
MeSH Descriptor files updated annually
MeSH Qualifier files updated annually
MeSH Supplemental Concept Records (SCR) updated daily (Monday - Friday)
MeSH MARC21
All files posted monthly
MeSH RDF
All files posted daily (Monday - Friday)
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | public |
| bureauCode |
[
"009:25"
]
|
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "National Library of Medicine",
"@type": "vcard:Contact",
"hasEmail": "mailto:custserv@nlm.nih.gov"
}
|
| description | Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a hierarchically-organized terminology for indexing and cataloging of biomedical information. It is used for the indexing of PubMed and other NLM databases. Please see the Terms and Conditions for more information regarding the use and re-use of MeSH. NLM produces Medical Subject Headings XML, ASCII, MARC 21 and RDF formats. Updates to the data files are made according to the following schedule: MeSH XML MeSH Descriptor files updated annually MeSH Qualifier files updated annually MeSH Supplemental Concept Records (SCR) updated daily (Monday - Friday) MeSH ASCII MeSH Descriptor files updated annually MeSH Qualifier files updated annually MeSH Supplemental Concept Records (SCR) updated daily (Monday - Friday) MeSH MARC21 All files posted monthly MeSH RDF All files posted daily (Monday - Friday) |
| distribution |
[
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Download - MeSH - Archive of Prior Production Years",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "Directories 1999-2010
-All the yearly release files produced by MeSH from 1999 to 2010
Directories 2011-2016
-These directories contain the yearly release file of MeSH. These files are distributed in November of the prior MeSH year and do not get updated.
RDF MESH N-TRIPLE DATA folders - for info see https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/",
"downloadURL": "https://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/projects/mesh/"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "MeSH on Demand",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "MeSH on Demand identifies MeSH Terms in your text using the NLM Medical Text Indexer (MTI) program. After processing, MeSH on Demand returns a list of MeSH Terms relevant to your text as well as a list of related articles from PubMed.",
"downloadURL": "https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/MeSHonDemand"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "MeSH RDF Resources",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "Resources supporting the RDF serialization of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).",
"downloadURL": "https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "API - MeSH RDF SPARKL endpoint",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "The SPARQL 1.1 endpoint returns RDF results and graphs. The lookup API returns simple JSON.",
"downloadURL": "https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/swagger/ui#/"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Query Interface - MeSH Browser - Current Production Year",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"description": "The browser offers two search methods: FullWord Search and SubString Search. Each method can be further modified to search by Exact Match, All Fragments, or Any Fragment. ",
"downloadURL": "https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Download - MeSH - Current Production Year",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"downloadURL": "https://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/projects/mesh/MESH_FILES/asciimesh/"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Download - MeSH - Current Production Year",
"mediaType": "text/html",
"downloadURL": "https://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/projects/mesh/MESH_FILES/meshmarc/"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Download - MeSH - Current Production Year",
"mediaType": "application/xml",
"downloadURL": "https://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/projects/mesh/MESH_FILES/xmlmesh/"
},
{
"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
"title": "Download - MeSH - Current Production Year",
"mediaType": "application/rdf+xml",
"downloadURL": "https://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/projects/mesh/rdf/2022/"
}
]
|
| identifier | https://datadiscovery.nlm.nih.gov/api/views/arcv-nkd5 |
| issued | 2020-08-06 |
| keyword |
[
"api",
"dataset",
"health data standards",
"terminologies"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html |
| license | http://opendefinition.org/licenses/odc-odbl/ |
| modified | 2025-07-16 |
| programCode |
[
"009:041"
]
|
| publisher |
{
"name": "National Library of Medicine",
"@type": "org:Organization"
}
|
| theme |
[
"Terminology"
]
|
| title | Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) |
