Table 1

Key Medline search strings used in8

Focus	Search string
Ethics	((“Ethics”[Mesh] OR “Human Rights”[Mesh] OR “ethics”[Subheading])) AND (((((((((((((“Health Services Accessibility”[Mesh])) OR ((“Continuity of Patient Care”[Mesh]))) OR ((“Drugs, Investigational/supply and distribution”[Mesh]))) OR ((post-trial provision))) OR ((post-trial obligations))) OR ((post-trial access))) OR ((post-trial benefits))) OR ((post-trial responsibility))) OR ((follow-up)))) AND (((((“Clinical Trials as Topic”[Mesh])) OR ((“Biomedical research”[Mesh]))) OR ((“Human experimentation”[Mesh]))))))
Developing countries	(((((“Vulnerable Populations”[MeSH Terms])) OR ((“Developing Countries”[Mesh])))) AND ((((“Patient Advocacy”[MeSH Terms])) OR ((“Ethics”[Mesh] OR “Human Rights”[Mesh] OR “ethics”[Subheading]))))) AND ((((((((“clinical trials as topic”[Mesh])) OR ((“Human Experimentation”[Mesh]))) OR ((“Biomedical Research”[MeSH Terms]))) OR ((“Drugs, Investigational/supply and distribution”[Mesh])))) OR ((“Research/organization and administration”[Mesh]))))

While some of the parentheses in the search strings are logically redundant, the search can be repeated in Medline only by using the strings as written here.