There are a number of techniques you can use while searching journal databases, and other electronic information resources to get better and more relevant results.
Basic and advanced search
Basic Search usually involves one search box, with a few options about searching a specific collection or field. This is great for general searching. When you have multiple keywords or complex search queries, using Advanced Search can be helpful. This usually involves several different boxes for your different keywords, built-in search operators, and more options for field searching and limiters.
Most databases will have a link to Advanced Search next to their Basic search option. Advanced Search in Google Scholar is accessible from the menu.
Search operators
Use these with your keywords to refine your searches and specify exactly what you want to find. These are most useful in journal databases and Primo Search. (Some of them won't work as well in Google Scholar.)
| Search Operator | Example |
| Use AND to retrieve results that contain both of your search terms. | pre-hospital AND treatment |
| Use OR to retrieve results that contain any or all of your search terms. | cardiac arrest OR heart attack |
| Using NOT to exclude irrelevant results. | drugs NOT illicit |
| Group terms or equivalent keywords with parentheses to create complex searches. | (cardiac arrest OR heart attack) AND treatment |
| Use quotation marks to search for a phrase | "cardiac arrest" |
| Search for terms with different word endings using an asterisk. | treat* = treats, treatment, treating |
| A question mark can be used to replace a single letter within a word. | analy?e = analyse, analyze |
| A proximity symbol can be used to force a search where one keyword appears within a certain range of another keyword | "cardiac arrest" N3 treat* (note: proximity operators may vary between databases, check database help pages for more information) |
Field searching and limiters
Most databases will allow you to specify which field you want to search. Common fields include author, title, dates, and subject headings/topic, and these are usually available in both basic and advanced search.
Once you've searched, you can also limit your results by some of these fields. This is extremely useful if you want all of your articles to have been published within a certain date range, or for them all to be peer-reviewed. Look for these in the menus beside your search results.
For more information on searching in journal databases, & tips and tricks that can help you get the best search results take a look at our Database Help Guide.
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