To focus on the university medical research record in Belgium, retrieved through university search filter in a context of Body Mass Index (BMI), overweight, obesity and physical activity. A generic model of Belgian university search filter was created and applied in MEDLINE (through PubMed). 'Place of publication' and language characteristics were identified. The performance of the university constructed filter was evaluated in two stages: first, by comparing it with the results of a manual search (gold standard; sensitivity, specificity) and second, by calculating agreement percentages. The evaluation of the filter revealed specificity and sensitivity of 100% in the field of BMI, overweight, obesity and physical activity. Globally the agreement percentage was 97.23%. The construction of university filter with high sensitivity and specificity permitted systematic application and rapid retrieval of desired information in MEDLINE (PubMed).