You can use search operators and other punctuation to get more specific search results when searching in legal databases.
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Use AND to retrieve results that contain both of your search terms |
negligence AND trespass |
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Use OR to retrieve results that contain either of your search terms |
mental state OR mens rea |
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Use NOT to exclude irrelevant results |
mediation NOT arbitration |
| Use quotation marks to search for a phrase | "duty of care" |
| Use truncation to search for related words that have the same word stem. |
communicat* = communicate, communication, communicating |
| Wildcards replace a single character in a word. | wom?n = women, woman |
| Grouping keywords together allows you to conduct many searches at once. |
(juvenile OR youth) AND detention Searches for: juvenile AND detention youth AND detention |
Some tips:
Some databases automatically place an AND between words, while others will search for a phrase. It's best to construct your searches using AND, OR and NOT so your search will work in all databases.
Databases use different symbols for their search operators, you can check in the help section of the database
Charles Sturt University acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which its campuses are located, paying respect to Elders, both past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples.
Charles Sturt University is an Australian University, TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018. CRICOS Provider: 00005F.