Advanced search usage statistics

[Jessica Lam]

Hi everyone,

I recently learned about EuropePMC's advanced search functionality and I really like how flexible it is, for instance the one filter that lets you search through specific section types only. This section searching in particular is a feature that I've not seen anywhere else that I also imagine would be very useful, but as a non-biomedical person myself, it's hard for me to judge. 

Does anyone know whether it's possible to see the usage statistics for the various advanced search configurations? Or perhaps if there have been studies done on it? I'm curious to know about user satisfaction with advanced searching, whether it truly has helped people find the papers they need faster, etc. Thanks in advance!

Cheers
Jessica

About me, for anyone interested: I am a PhD student working in natural language processing and I'm specifically interested in the retrieval of information from scientific papers. I'd be pleased to chat about any potential collaborations or ways in which I can contribute. 

[Lynne Faulk]

Hi Jessica,

Thank you for getting in touch, and for your offer to contribute. I'm glad you've found the Advanced search tool flexible. Europe PMC indexes the full text of articles when the licensing permits, and this allows us to provide an article section search. 

The Advanced search tool has been recently revamped, and we do not yet have usage stats on individual sections or features. But we regularly do user experience research, and it would be useful for us to understand your needs. I can contact you via your email address if that's okay.

Kind regards,
Lynne