This has not yet been reflected in the below search strategy. These are logic-based words that help search engines narrow down or broaden search results. The most common Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT. Since November 2022 it also allows proximity searching. Boolean searching is a search technique which uses Boolean operators to help bring back search results faster and with more precision. Boolean Search uses a combination of keywords and the three main Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to organize and sift through your searches. PubMed allows truncation searching, in which an asterisk can substitute variant endings. They can be used to broaden or narrow a search and to exclude unwanted search terms and concepts. This is the Concept Table for Medline via PubMed. animal adj3 therapy picks up animal therapy, animal based therapy, animal assisted play therapy, therapy using animals. Adj2 finds terms in any order and with one word (or none) between them.Į.g. There are three main modifiers: ‘AND’, ‘OR. To apply adjacency, separate your search terms with the ADJ operator and a number from 1 to 99. Boolean Search is a type of search that allows users to combine keywords with ‘modifiers’ or ‘operators’ to limit, widen or define results. behavi o?r picks up behavior and behaviourĪDJn is a positional operator that lets you retrieve records that contain your terms (in any order) within a specified number (n) of words of each other. It is useful for retrieving records with British and American spelling variations because it finds words whether or not the extra character is present.Į.g. The optional wild card character stands for zero or one characters within a word or at the end of a word. asks the computer to search for both car and cars, or any word beginning with car such as carriage or carburettor. It is very useful to take into account plural and singular forms of a noun. therap*3 picks ups therapy and therapies, but not therapeutic Truncation allows you to search for all the variants of a word without having to specify them all in your search string. The most popular Boolean commands are AND, OR. Limited right-hand truncation restricts the number of characters following the wordĮ.g. Boolean is a set of commands that can be used in almost every search engine, database, or online catalogue. stimulat* picks up stimulation, stimulated, stimulus

Boolean search technique