Search Operators for Different Databases - PubMed, Ovid databases (Medline, Embase, PsycInfo), Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science,

Scopus
Database Controlled vocabulary Boolean operators Proximity operators Truncation/Wildcard Phrase searching

PubMed MeSH AND, OR, NOT Not available * “… …”

To search for all terms that begin To search for an exact phrase,
Default is exploded with a word, enter the word enclose the phrase in double
heading followed by an asterisk (*). quotation marks.
Expl oded:
Trunca tion turns off automatic term Searching a phrase using
"Dementia"[Mesh]
ma pping and the process that includes double quotes turns off
the MeSH term and any specific terms
Not expl oded (not include automatic mapping to MeSH
i ndented under that term i n the MeSH
hea dings found below this
hi erarchy. terms. For example, "heart
term i n MeSH hierarchy):
"Dementia"[Mesh:NoExp]
attack" will not map to the
PubMed s earches for the first 600
MeSH term Myocardial
va ri a tions of a truncated term. E.g.
Ma jor Topic - Expl oded:
thera p* produces more than 600 Infarction, whereas, heart
"Dementia"[Majr]
va ri a tions and will not search for attack will.
Ma jor Topic – Not thera py!
expl oded:
"Dementia"[Majr:NoExp]

Ovid MeSH (Medline), AND, OR, NOT ADJn $ or * When multiple words are
databases Emtree (Embase), FREQ unlimited right-hand entered into the search box,
ADJn is a positional operator
 Medline PsycInfo Thesaurus truncation searches for variations Ovid searches them as a
FREQ lets you that lets you retrieve records
 Embase (PsycInfo) on a word that are formed with phrase automatically
specify a term’s that contain your terms (in
 PsycInfo different suffixes. e.g. s kin cancer
Default is unexploded threshold of any order) within a specified
e.g. gene* fi nds gene, genes, genetics,
heading occurrence in number (n) of words of each generation If you do not want to search as
records retrieved. other. To apply adjacency, a phrase, you need to use
expl oded:
separate your search terms $n or *n Boolean operators between
exp Dementia/ <term>.xy./freq=n with the ADJ operator and a Limited right-hand them.
Not expl oded: Dementia/ number from 1 to 99. truncation restricts the number e.g. s kin AND ca ncer
E.g.
e.g. physician adj5 relationship of characters following the word.
Ma jor Topic (Focus) - bl oodpressure.tx./freq=
e.g. dog$1 fi nds dog or dogs but not
10 retri eves only
Expl oded: dogma
records in which the
exp *Dementia/
phra se blood pressure
#
a ppears ten or more

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 Ma jor Topic – Not ti mes i n the full text The mandated wild
expl oded: (TX) fi eld of the card character stands
*Dementia/ da ta base. It does not
work for mul tiple fields.
for one character within a word
or at the end of a word.
e.g. wom#n fi nds woman a nd women

?
The optional wild card character
stands for zero or one characters
within a word or at the end of a
word.
e.g. colo?r fi nds color a nd colour

Cochrane MeSH AND, OR, NOT NEAR A wildcard can be added to the “… …”
Finds the terms when they are right (end of term), left To search for an exact phrase,
Expl oded:
within 6 words of each other. (beginning of term) and internal enclose the phrase in double
MeSH descriptor:
[Dementia] explode all trees Terms can appear in either (within) a term, however the quotation marks.
order. word root must be at least 3
Not expl oded e.g. cancer near lung characters. Phrase search does NOT
(unexploded): support the use of wildcards.
MeSH descriptor: NEAR/X *
[Dementia] this term only
Finds the terms when they are Retrieves variations of the search
Ma jor Topic - Expl oded: within X words of each other. term and replaces one or more
Not available Terms can appear in either characters
order. e.g. transplant* fi nds transplant,
Ma jor Topic – Not
e.g. cancer near/3 lung transplants, transplanting,
expl oded:
transplantation, transplantable
Not available
NEXT
e.g. *glycemia fi nds hyperglycemia or
Finds the terms when they hypoglycemia
appear next to each other.
Terms must appear in the ?
order specified. Use the NEXT Retrieves variations of the search
operator for phrase searching term and replaces one character
e.g. wom?n fi nds women or woman
with wildcards.
e.g. hearing NEXT aid* (fi nd hearing
a i d and hearing aids)

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 CINAHL CINAHL Headings AND, OR, NOT Nx (near) * “… …”
Finds words if they are Enter the root of a search term To search for an exact phrase,
Expl oded: When Boolean
(MH "Dementia+") opera tors are
within x words of one another and replace the ending with an *. enclose the phrase in double
conta ined within a regardless of the order in All forms of that word will be quotation marks.
Not expl oded: phra se that is enclosed which they appear. found.
(MH "Dementia") If a phrase contains stop words the
i n quotation marks, the e.g. tax N5 reform fi nds tax reform e.g. comput* fi nds computer or
s top words will not be searched, but
opera tor is treated as a a nd reform of income tax computing
Ma jor Topic (Ma jor the s earchable words will be
s top word. When this is
Concept) - Exploded: s earched i n the order as entered.
the ca s e, any s ingle The Truncation symbol (*) may also be
(MM "Dementia+") Wx (within)
word wi ll be searched us ed between words to match a ny word.
Finds words if they are e.g. a midsummer * dream fi nds a If you enter hyphenated
for i n i ts place.
Ma jor Topic – Not
within x words of one another midsummer night’s dream words in a search, the search
expl oded:
(MM "Dementia") and in the order in which you engine automatically searches
entered them. ?
for the word in both
e.g. oil W3 (disaster OR clean-up OR Represents one character hyphenated and non-
contamination) e.g. ne?t fi nds neat, nest or next
hyphenated forms
# e.g. a nimal-assisted finds a nimal
a s sisted and animal-assisted
Represents zero or one character
e.g. colo#r fi nds color or colour

Web of Not available AND, OR, NOT NEAR/x * “… …”

Science Use NEAR/x to find records
where the terms joined by the
operator are x words of each
other.
e.g. Brown NEAR “spider bite”
If you use NEAR without /x,
the system will find records
where the terms joined by
NEAR are within 15 words of
each other.
Represents any group of To search for an exact phrase,
characters, including no enclose the phrase in double
character. quotation marks.
e.g. hydro*power fi nds hydropower or
hydroelectricpower This applies only to Topic and
Title searches.
? e.g. “energy conserv*” fi nds energy
Represents any single character conservation or energy conserving
is useful for searching last names of authors
where the last character is uncertain. If the phrase contains a stopword,
then the search will find phrases that
$ conta in any word in the position of
Represents zero or one character. the s topword.
e.g. flavo$r fi nds flavor a nd flavour e.g. "pa tient undergoing
ra di ation" will find patient
undergoing radiation, patient
recei ving ra diation, patient failing

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Scopus IndexTerms
Scopus does not carry
out its own indexing.
However, it is possible
to search controlled
vocabulary terms that
had been assigned to
the document
e.g.
INDEXTERMS(“Dementia”)
returns documents where
dementia i s a n i ndex term
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AND, OR, W/n (within)
AND NOT Where the terms in the search
must be within a specified
number of terms (n). n can be
a number from 0 to 255.
Either word may appear first.
e.g. pain W/15 morphine woul d fi nd
a rti cl es i n which "pain" a nd
"morphine" a re no more than 15
terms a part
PRE/n (precedes by)
Where the first term in the
search must precede the
second by a specified number
of terms (n). n can be a
number from 0 to 255.
e.g. behavioural PRE/3 disturbances
fi nds articles in which "behavioural"
precedes "disturbances" by three or
fewer words
ra di ation, a nd s o on (undergoing i s a
s topword)
If you enter hyphenated
words in a search, the search
engine automatically searches
for the word in both
hyphenated and non-
hyphenated forms
e.g. waste-water fi nds waste water
a nd waste-water
! {… …}
To search for a variable number To find documents that
of characters. contain an exact phrase,
e.g. locom! fi nds locomotive, locomotives including any stop words,
or locomotion spaces, and punctuation,
? enclose the phrase in braces.
Replaces one character anywhere
“… …”
in a word. To find documents that
e.g. wom?n fi nds women or woman
contain a loose/ approximate
* phrase (your search terms
Replaces a fixed number of appear adjacent to each
characters other), enclose the terms in
e.g. dog fi nds dogs double quotation marks.
Scopus finds va riant spellings a nd Sea rching for "cri minal* i nsan*" finds
ma tches Greek characters and their cri mi nally i nsane and cri minal
common American/British English variant i ns anity.
s pellings. Also, using the singular form of Sea rching for "heart a ttack" finds
a word i n your s earch retrieves the hea rt a ttack and heart a ttacks.
s i ngular, plural, a nd possessive forms of
mos t words.
e.g. criterion fi nds criteria or criterion
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