Too many wrong publications? Too few? Adjust your name-based search settings

The UC Publication Management System searches multiple publication databases to find scholarly works of UC authors based on their name-based search settings. 

If your "Pending" list has a large number of publications that weren’t authored or co-authored by you, or if it has too few publications, you can adjust your name-based search settings to find fewer (or more) publications. You can also connect your ORCID iD or add other accounts and identifiers to automatically claim large numbers of your works or to automatically reject large numbers of works that aren't yours.

Update your name-based search settings

1. Navigate to Menu > My Profile > Settings > Name-based Search; or type “name-based search” in the navigation search (direct link)
   
   
   

2. Adjust the search settings as appropriate:

   1. Name variant: This is the system uses to search databases for your publications. It should be the versions of your name that you publish under. The default setting is in "FamilyName, F[irstInitial]. M[iddleInitial]." format (example "Zhang, W. W.") 
      
      Improve results: Adding more than one version of your name generally will increase the number of items in your "Pending" queue. If you are receiving too many suggestions, or if you have a very common name, we recommend deleting all listed names and add only your full name plus middle initial (if you have one), for example "Zhang, Wayne W."
      
      To add a name variant: Type the name, then click the Plus (+) icon to add the name variant. 
      To remove a name variant: Click the Delete (X) icon to next to name variant.
      

   2. Address: This is the institution name the system uses to search databases for your publications. The default setting is your UC campus name. 
      
      For best results, use the following conventions when adding address terms:

      1. University of California Los Angeles (or other campus name)

      2. Univ Calif Los Angeles (or other campus name)
         
         

   3. Start date: This can be used to filter out items published before you began publishing, or before you started working at UC. 
      
      

   4. Keywords: This restrict results to only items that contain specific keywords. This can be useful if you have a very common name to restrict results to those keywords; otherwise it is not recommended.
      
      

   5. Journals: This restricts results to only items published in specific journals. This can be used if you have a very common name to restrict results to only items that were published in those journals; otherwise it is not recommended. 
      
      

   6. Online database IDs: Not recommended. It is useful only if you have specific IDs for a particular database and they want to be sure that all articles with that ID are included.
      
      

   7. Source-specific search terms and advanced search settings: In this section, you can enable or disable different data sources as appropriate. For example, RePec predominately has economics publications. 
      
      Certain data sources offer the ability to improve search results using advanced search settings. This is highly recommended if you are receiving too many results.

      • PubMed: Uses the formats:
        (LastName, FirstInitial MiddleInitial[Author]) AND (UC Campus[Affiliation]) (LastName, FirstName MiddleInitial[Author]) AND (UC Campus[Affiliation]) 
        
        We recommend using the (LastName, FirstName MiddleInitial[Author]) setting to reduce incorrect results. Example: (Garfin, Steven R[Author]) AND (UC San Diego[Affiliation])
        
        Tip: Use PubMed's Advanced Search Builder to build and test your search string.
        
        
      • Web of Science (Lite): Uses the formats:
        (LastName, FirstInitial MiddleInitial[Author]) AND Univ Calif Campus[Affiliation]
        (LastName, FirstName MiddleInitial[Author]) AND Univ Calif Campus[Affiliation]
        
        We recommend using the (LastName, FirstName MiddleInitial[Author]) setting to reduce incorrect results. Example: (Garfin, Steven R[Author]) AND (UC San Diego[Affiliation])
        
        

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Save".
   
   
   

4. Clear your search queue: Select the Home Icon from the navigation menu (direct link).
   
   
   

5. In the Publications box, click the three dot icon then click Clear pending to remove all publications in the pending list. 
   

6. Confirm that you wish to clear pending items by clicking Clear. 
   
   A confirmation message will display when the publications have been cleared: 
   
   
   

7. The system will automatically find your publications within the coming day. You can also immediately run searches by returning to the Name-based search page (direct link) and clicking the "Run my searches" button near the top of the page.
   
   
   

8. The system will automatically queue you for new searches, which will typically complete within a few minutes to an hour (depending on the data source).