mesh

is a Ontology.

It is part of the OMOP collection.

The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a hierarchically-organized controlled vocabulary produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). It serves as the standard thesaurus for indexing and cataloging biomedical and health-related information in MEDLINE/PubMed and other NLM databases.

Homepage

mesh

Infores ID

infores:mesh

FAIRsharing ID

Unknown

Product Summary

Products

From this Resource
ID Name URL Category Format Description
mesh.browser MeSH Browser search GraphicalInterface http The official MeSH Browser for searchi...
mesh.xml MeSH XML Data xmlmesh OntologyProduct xml MeSH data in XML format containing de...
mesh.rdf MeSH RDF Data 2025 OntologyProduct rdfxml MeSH data in RDF (Resource Descriptio...
mesh.ascii MeSH ASCII Data asciimesh OntologyProduct txt MeSH data in ASCII text format contai...
mesh.marc MeSH MARC 21 Data meshmarc OntologyProduct mixed MeSH data in MARC 21 bibliographic fo...
mesh.api.eutilities MeSH E-utilities API NBK25500 ProgrammingInterface http E-utilities API for programmatic acce...
mesh.api.rdf MeSH RDF API ui ProgrammingInterface http SPARQL endpoint and REST API for quer...
mesh.sparql.editor MeSH SPARQL Query Editor query GraphicalInterface http SPARQL query editor interface for int...
mesh.ondemand MeSH on Demand MeSHonDemand Product http MeSH on Demand service for suggesting...
mesh.documentation MeSH Documentation and Tutorials mesh.html DocumentationProduct http Comprehensive documentation about MeS...
From other Resources
ID Name URL Category Format Relation Description
alzkb.browser AlzKB Graph Database Browser login GraphicalInterface http had primary source A browser interface for a knowledge g...
alzkb.data AlzKB Data Release (Version 2.0.0) v2.0.0 GraphProduct had primary source Memgraph data release for AlzKB.
spoke.graph SPOKE Graph data-tools GraphProduct http had primary source The SPOKE knowledge graph containing ...
pharmkg.graph PharmKG graph 4077338 GraphProduct had primary source Cleaned benchmark graph (PharmKG-8k) ...
drugmechdb.graph DrugMechDB Graph Dataset zenodo.8139357 GraphProduct mixed had primary source Curated mechanistic drug–disease path...
microbiomekg.api MicrobiomeKG Plover TRAPI API mbkp ProgrammingInterface http had primary source Plover-hosted TRAPI web API for query...
icees-kg.graph KGX distribution of the ICEES Exposures KP 1.5.0 GraphProduct kgx-jsonl had primary source KGX distribution of the ICEES Exposur...
icees-kg.trapi ICEES KG TRAPI API icees-kg-trapi ProgrammingInterface http had primary source Translator Reasoner API (TRAPI) endpo...
icees-kg.metadata ICEES KG Metadata metadata-metadata-get-icees-kg Product json had primary source Meta knowledge graph and metadata des...
athena.mappings Athena Concept Mappings start MappingProduct csv had primary source Concept mappings between different te...
forum.graph.dump FORUM Knowledge Graph Dump share.tar.gz GraphProduct had primary source Downloadable knowledge graph dump in ...
unibiomap.links UniBioMap Graph Links unibiomap.links.csv (1.3 GB) GraphProduct csv had primary source Core UniBioMap graph edges file.
unibiomap.auxs UniBioMap Graph Auxiliaries unibiomap.auxs.tsv (563.9 MB) GraphProduct tsv had primary source Auxiliary UniBioMap graph annotations...
unibiomap.pred UniBioMap Predicted Graph unibiomap.pred.csv (2.3 GB) GraphProduct csv had primary source Predicted UniBioMap graph edges with ...
unibiomap.pred.full UniBioMap Predicted Graph (Full) unibiomap.pred.full.csv (5.9 GB) GraphProduct csv had primary source Full unfiltered UniBioMap predicted g...
obo-db-ingest.mesh.tsv mesh Nodes TSV mesh.tsv (11.6 MB) Product tsv had primary source mesh Nodes TSV
athena.vocabularies Athena Vocabulary Downloads list Product csv had primary source Downloadable standardized vocabulary ...
forum.webapp FORUM Web Application forum-webapp.semantic-metabolomics.fr GraphicalInterface had primary source FORUM web application interface for s...
forum.api FORUM API openapi-documentation ProgrammingInterface had primary source FORUM REST API for programmatic acces...
forum.void FORUM VoID Metadata void (94.2 KB) DocumentationProduct had primary source FORUM VoID (Vocabulary of Interlinked...
hetionet.neo4j Hetionet v1.0 Neo4j Database browser GraphicalInterface http had primary source Browser for complete Hetionet v1.0 gr...
hetionet.data.json Hetionet v1.0 JSON hetionet-v1.0.json.bz2 (131 B) GraphProduct json had primary source Hetionet v1.0 in JSON format
hetionet.data.neo4j Hetionet v1.0 Neo4j hetionet-v1.0.db.tar.bz2 (132 B) GraphProduct had primary source Hetionet v1.0 as a Neo4j database
hetionet.data.edges Hetionet v1.0 edges (SIF) hetionet-v1.0-edges.sif.gz (131 B) GraphProduct sif had primary source Hetionet v1.0 as SIF edges
hetionet.data.nodes Hetionet v1.0 nodes (TSV) hetionet-v1.0-nodes.tsv (417.1 KB) GraphProduct tsv had primary source Hetionet v1.0 as TSV nodes
hetnetpy hetnetpy hetnetpy ProcessProduct had primary source Python package for creating, querying...
hetionet.search Hetnet Connectivity Search search GraphicalInterface http had primary source Web application to search and explore...
medkb.site MedKG Site medkg GraphicalInterface had primary source Graphical interface for MedKG
mind.train MIND Training Data train.txt GraphProduct tsv had primary source Training data for the MIND knowledge ...
mind.test MIND Test Data test.txt GraphProduct tsv had primary source Test data for the MIND knowledge grap...
mind.valid MIND Validation Data valid.txt GraphProduct tsv had primary source Validation data for the MIND knowledg...
mind.entities MIND Entities Dictionary entities.dict (5.4 MB) Product tsv had primary source Dictionary of entities in the MIND kn...
mind.relations MIND Relations Dictionary relations.dict (1.6 KB) Product tsv had primary source Dictionary of relations in the MIND k...
tera.traits-nt EOL Traits Data (N-Triples) traits.nt (923.2 MB) Product ntriples had primary source Encyclopedia of Life traits data in N...
tera.cas-to-mesh-csv CAS to MeSH Mapping (CSV) cas_to_mesh.csv (106.8 KB) MappingProduct csv had primary source Mapping file linking CAS Registry Num...
tera.chebi-to-mesh-csv ChEBI to MeSH Mapping (CSV) chebi_to_mesh.csv (76.8 KB) MappingProduct csv had primary source Mapping file linking ChEBI identifier...
eram.web eRAM Web Interface eram GraphicalInterface http was informed by Web-based interface for browsing and ...
eram.downloads eRAM Data Downloads download.php Product mixed was derived from Downloadable data files containing ra...
med-rt.core_dts Core MED-RT DTS Archive Core_MEDRT_DTS.zip (2.4 MB) Product was informed by Current MED-RT DTS release archive fr...
med-rt.core_xml Core MED-RT XML Archive Core_MEDRT_XML.zip (2.4 MB) Product xml was informed by Current MED-RT XML release archive fr...
openpredict.api OpenPredict API docs ProgrammingInterface http used TRAPI 1.4 API for predicted drug trea...
openpredict.predictions OpenPredict Prediction Data docs Product mixed used Pre-computed prediction outputs expos...
orphanet.scientific_knowledge_files Orphanet Scientific Knowledge Files orphanet-scientific-knowledge-files Product xml was informed by Orphanet scientific knowledge files f...
predict.method PREDICT Drug-Indication Inference Method msb.2011.26 ProcessProduct used PREDICT computational method for larg...
predict.supporting-information PREDICT Supporting Information msb.2011.26 Product mixed used Supporting information for the PREDIC...
acukg.csv AcuKG CSV tables AcuKG GraphProduct csv used Source CSV tables for AcuKG, includin...
acukg.rdf AcuKG RDF Turtle files AcuKG_RDF GraphProduct ttl used RDF Turtle representation of AcuKG re...
acukg.json AcuKG JSON files AcuKG_json GraphProduct json used JSON representation of AcuKG relation...
cardiokg.neo4j CardioKG Neo4j graph construction scripts Building%20KG GraphProduct neo4j used Neo4j construction artifacts for Card...
biobtree.api BioBTree REST API api ProgrammingInterface http had primary source REST API for searching identifiers an...

Details

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a hierarchically-organized controlled vocabulary developed and maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). MeSH serves as the authoritative thesaurus for indexing, cataloging, and searching biomedical and health-related information across multiple NLM databases, most notably MEDLINE/PubMed.

Overview

MeSH provides a consistent way to retrieve information that may use different terminology for the same concepts. It consists of descriptors arranged in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity. The vocabulary is updated annually, with new descriptors added and existing ones modified to reflect advances in medical knowledge.

Key Features

  • Hierarchical Structure: MeSH terms are organized in a tree structure from general to specific, allowing both broad and narrow searches
  • Controlled Vocabulary: Provides standardized terminology to improve search precision and recall
  • Cross-References: Includes entry terms and see-also references to guide users to appropriate descriptors
  • Qualifiers: Subheadings that can be combined with descriptors to specify particular aspects of a topic
  • Supplemental Concept Records (SCRs): Additional terms for chemicals, drugs, and other specific entities

Applications

MeSH is primarily used for:

  • Indexing articles in MEDLINE/PubMed and other biomedical databases
  • Literature searching and systematic reviews
  • Information retrieval in biomedical research
  • Cataloging library materials in medical collections
  • Supporting semantic web applications through RDF representation

Data Formats and Access

MeSH data is available in multiple formats to support different use cases:

  • XML: Structured data format with full hierarchical information
  • RDF: Semantic web format for linked data applications
  • ASCII: Plain text format for legacy systems
  • MARC 21: Library cataloging format

The vocabulary is accessible through various interfaces including the MeSH Browser, programmatic APIs, and downloadable data files. Updates are provided annually for the main vocabulary, with daily updates for supplemental concept records.

Is this information incorrect or incomplete? Request an update.

Created: October 10, 2025 | Last modified: April 10, 2026