What Is a PMID?
Looking for the full method? Read the detailed guide: PubMed vs PubMed Central vs MEDLINE.
A PMID (PubMed Identifier) is a unique number assigned to each record in PubMed. It identifies the citation entry for an article, not the article's full text, and it appears on the record page and in many reference formats.
Example
Illustrative format only: PMID: 12345678. If you know a paper's PMID, you can type it into PubMed's search box to open the exact record. Reference managers often import records by PMID, which reduces typing errors.
Common misunderstanding
Having a PMID means that the record is in PubMed. It does not mean that the journal is indexed in MEDLINE, that the paper has full text in PubMed Central or that the study is high quality.
Learn more
For the differences between PubMed, MEDLINE and PubMed Central, see PubMed vs PubMed Central vs MEDLINE.
References and further reading
Related reading
This page is general educational information about research methods. It is not medical, legal or regulatory advice; follow your institution's ethics board and your target journal's instructions.