Class Definitions

The table below is a list of classes in MeSH RDF.

Class Name Parent Class Definition Equivalent XML Data Element
meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair A combined MeSH descriptor and qualifier, where the pairing is allowed by MeSH rules. These URIs are a mash up of the descriptor and qualifier identifiers (such as D000236Q000235). EntryCombination/ECIN
meshv:CheckTag meshv:Descriptor A special class of descriptor singled out because they are so frequently applied to biomedical literature. There are only 2 Descriptors that are members of the class meshv:CheckTag - D005260 ‘Male’ and D008297 ‘Female’. These two Descriptors do not have tree numbers. Please see the MEDLINE Indexing Online Training Course for the complete list. DescriptorRecord @DescriptorClass = "3"
meshv:Concept N/A MeSH concepts are meanings. Many MeSH concepts contain synonymous terms. meshv:Concept identifiers begin with ‘M’ such as M0000013 - ‘Congenital Abnormalities’. See the MeSH concept structure page for more information. Concept
meshv:Descriptor * N/A MeSH Descriptors are a cluster of one or more concepts used to describe what a publication is about. meshv:Descriptor is the parent class of meshv:TopicalDescriptor, meshv:GeographicDescriptor, meshv:PublicationType, and meshv:CheckTag. DescriptorRecord
meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair * N/A A combined MeSH descriptor and qualifier pair. Allowed pairs (according to MeSH rules) belong to the class meshv:AllowedDescriptorQualifierPair. Disallowed pairs belong to the class meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair. EntryCombination
meshv:DisallowedDescriptorQualifierPair meshv:DescriptorQualifierPair A combined MeSH descriptor and qualifier where the pairing is not allowed by MeSH rules, such as ‘Abdomen/radiography’. EntryCombination/ECOUT
meshv:GeographicalDescriptor meshv:Descriptor A descriptor that references places or regions of the world, such as D001061 - ‘Appalachian Region’. DescriptorRecord @DescriptorClass = "4"
meshv:PublicationType meshv:Descriptor A special class of descriptor that describes what type of publication a resource is as opposed to what it is about. All MeSH Publication Types are in the ‘V’ tree. DescriptorRecord @DescriptorClass = "2"
meshv:SCR_Protocol meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord MeSH protocols are therapies in the domain of cancer treatment, such as ABVD Protocol. SupplementalRecord SCRClass="2"
meshv:Qualifier N/A Also known as Subheadings, these provide context to the use of a MeSH Heading. See heart - drug effects for an example. QualifierRecord
meshv:SCR_Disease meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord Rare Diseases were originally brought into MeSH from a list maintained by the Office of Rare Diseases Research. See Hepatic Fibrosis, Congenital for an example. SupplementalRecord @SCRClass="3"
meshv:SCR_Chemical meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord These are chemicals, drugs, enzymes, vitamins, etc., such as C011657 - ‘Andrenosterone’. SupplementalRecord @SCRClass="1"
meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord* N/A Supplementary Concepts are created in MeSH to aid in searching the large volume of mainly chemicals and drugs. meshv:SupplementaryConceptRecord has three sub-classes: meshv:RegularSubstance, meshv:SCR_Protocol, and meshv:SCR_Disease. SupplementalRecord
meshv:Term N/A MeSH terms provide synonymous names for MeSH concepts. Terms have ‘T’ identifiers, and are considered either preferred or lexical variants, such as ‘Congenital Abnormalities’ as opposed to ‘Abnormality, Congenital’. Term
meshv:TopicalDescriptor meshv:Descriptor Topical Descriptors indicate the subject of an indexed item such as a journal article. See D063926 - ‘Drug Hypersensitivity Syndrome’ for an example. DescriptorRecord @DescriptorClass = "1"
meshv:TreeNumber N/A Tree Numbers are used to organize MeSH Descriptors in a broader-than/narrower-than manner. For example, every Descriptor treed under C04 - ‘Neoplasms’ would be about something more specific than ‘Neoplasms’. TreeNumber

* Indicates this is a super class. Use RDF inferencing when querying these to retrieve sub-classes.