Skin of Color

An effective search strategy contains both keywords and subject headings. Databases contain millions of journal articles, and most are indexed with specific subject headings (such as MeSH or Emtree), which can help make your searches more focused. Keywords are still useful, especially when searching highly specific terms or populations that don't have an indexing term. 

Here are a few search terms which may be helpful for you. This list is not comprehensive. 

Other terms of potential interest to combine with the list above: 

Below is a basic search strategy that you can use to begin searching literature about skin of color in PubMed.   You can edit and combine with other terminology to make the search more focused (e.g., combine with surgical scarring terminology). Simply copy and paste the strategy below into the PubMed search bar.

Please feel free to contact Kathryn Vanderboll for an in depth, individual information consultation:kvanderb@umich.edu

("Race Factors"[MeSH Terms] OR "Skin Pigmentation"[MeSH Terms] OR "Skin"[MeSH Terms] OR "Ethnicity"[Mesh] OR "American Indian or Alaska Native"[Mesh] OR "Asian"[Mesh] OR "Black or African American"[Mesh] OR "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander"[Mesh] OR "African People"[Mesh] OR "Asian People"[Mesh] OR "Black People"[Mesh] OR "Caribbean People"[Mesh] OR "Central American People"[Mesh] OR "Middle Eastern and North Africans"[Mesh] OR "Oceanians"[Mesh] OR "South American People"[Mesh] OR "Indigenous Peoples"[Mesh] OR "Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander"[Mesh] OR pigment*[tiab] OR racial[tiab] OR race[tiab] OR racism[tiab] OR African*[tiab] OR Black American*[tiab] OR black[tiab] OR blacks[tiab] OR negro*[tiab] OR Native American*[tiab] OR Indian*[tiab] OR Indigenous People*[tiab] OR First Nation People*[tiab] OR "Native People"[tiab] OR Inuit*[tiab] OR Arab[tiab] OR Arabs[tiab] OR Palestinian*[tiab] OR Asian*[tiab] OR Burmese*[tiab] OR Cambodian*[tiab] OR Vietnamese*[tiab] OR Japanese[tiab] OR Korean*[tiab] OR Mongoloid*[tiab] OR Asiatic*[tiab] OR Thai[tiab] OR Thais[tiab] OR Chinese[tiab] OR Hispanic*[tiab] OR Spanish[tiab] OR Puerto Rican*[tiab] OR Cuban*[tiab] OR Latin*[tiab] OR Mexican*[tiab] OR Hawaiian*[tiab] OR Pacific Islander*[tiab] OR Aborigin*[tiab] OR "people of color"[tiab] OR "people of colour"[tiab] OR "skin of color"[tiab] OR "skin of colour"[tiab] OR "brown skin"[tiab] OR "black skin"[tiab] OR "dark skin"[tiab] OR "dark skinned"[tiab] OR "darker skin"[tiab] OR melanin[tiab] OR ethnic*[tiab] OR skin tone*[tiab] OR skin color*[tiab] OR skin colour*[tiab] OR "skin phototypes"[tiab] OR hyperpigmentation[tiab] OR hypopigmentation[tiab] OR dyschromia[tiab]) AND ("Dermatology"[Mesh Terms] OR dermatolog*[tiab])