Search Syntax  At A Glance
Search Syntax At-a-Glance
Use this:
To Run a Search:
*
Truncation: Stands in for any number of characters, including 0, at the
end of a word.
Example: Searching for comput* will find articles that contain "computer,"
"computerized," or "computers."
?
Wildcard: Stands in for one character in or at the end of a word.
Example: Searching for educat?? will find articles that contain "educated"
and "educator." But it won't find "education," which contains more than
two letters following "educat."
"…"
Quotation Marks: Search words must appear exactly as typed.
Example: Searching for "business process" will find business process
articles, but not about the process of starting a business.
(..)
Parentheses: Whatever is inside the parentheses is searched first, then
those results are searched with the words outside the parentheses.
Example: Searching for Federal Reserve OR (U.S. AND economic
policy) finds articles dealing with either the Federal Reserve or articles
containing both the words "U.S." and "economic policy."
AND
AND: Both the search words before and after AND must appear in the
article. AND narrows your search.
Example: Searching for El Nino AND Atlantic Ocean will only find
articles that mention both El Nino and Atlantic Ocean.
OR
OR: Either the words before or after OR can appear in the article. OR
broadens your search.
Example: Searching for El Nino OR Atlantic Ocean will find articles that
mention either El Nino or Atlantic Ocean.
AND NOT
AND NOT: The search words before AND NOT must appear in the
article, but the words after must not.
Example: Searching for El Nino AND NOT Atlantic Ocean gives you
articles on El Nino, excluding those which also mention Atlantic Ocean.
W/n
Within: Search words must appear within n of words to match.
Example: Searching for U.S. W/15 economic policy finds articles where
U.S. appears within 15 words of economic policy. This finds articles on
American economic policy, but doesn't restrict the search to use the exact
phrase "U.S. economic policy."
NOT W/n
Not Within: Search words must be separated by at least n words to
match.
Example: Searching for U.S. NOT W/50 economic policy finds articles
where U.S. doesn't appear within 50 worlds of economic policy. This finds
articles on worldwide economic policy, very few would include information
about U.S. economic policy.
PRE/n
Precede By: The first search word must precede the second by n words
to match. This is useful for phrase searching.
Example: Searching for U.S. PRE/5 economic policy finds articles on
many types of American economic policy, such as U.S. foreign aid
economic policy, or U.S. wartime economic policy.
1
For Search Assistance and Technical Support, call 800-889-3358
1/15/2004
Outside North America, call +1-734-761-4700 ext. 2513
Tips for Defining Your Search Word or Phrase
Follow these tips for searching ProQuest.
Handling Spelling Variations
If you have Spelling Variants turned on (you can access this from the Advanced Search page),
ProQuest will automatically search for British and American English spellings of words, as well as
looking for the singular, plural, singular possessive and plural possessive forms of all search
words. Use the truncation (?) symbol to find other endings.
When You Need More Articles
Try broadening your search by switching from Search in: Citation and Abstract to Search in:
Article Text in Basic or Advanced Search Methods. In the Guided Search Method try changing
All Basic Search Fields to Article Text.
Uppercase or Lowercase Letters?
Search statements are not case sensitive. A search for Federal Reserve Board will find the
same articles as federal reserve board in Basic, Guided, Advanced and Publication Search
Methods. In the Natural Language Search Method, you should capitalize proper nouns.
Searching Two-Word Phrases
Two-word searches are treated as an exact phrase. A search for Federal Reserve will find
articles in which the word Federal immediately precedes the word Reserve.
About Longer Phrases
Three or more contiguous words are searched in proximity. A search for Federal Reserve
system will find articles in which the terms Federal, and Reserve and system appear within a
250-word block.
Searching Exact Phrases
Use quotation marks to search exact phrases that are three or more words in length, e.g.
“Federal Reserve system”. Quotation marks also let you include Stop Words in your search.
A search for fire and brimstone will be interpreted as asking ProQuest to find articles containing
both the word fire and the word brimstone within a 250-word block. The search “fire and
brimstone” will be interpreted as a command to find that exact phrase.
A complete list of Stop Words can be found in the Search Guide or in the Advanced Search
Method.
Searching Citations and Abstracts
When you select Search in: Citation and Abstract in the Basic or Advanced Search Methods,
the system actually searches in several areas:
■
Author
■
Personal Name
■
Abstract
■
Product Name
■
Article Title
■
Subject Terms
■
Company Name
■
Publication Name (Source)
■
Geographical Name
Selecting Search in: Article Text searches the article title and abstract as well as the article
text.
2
For Search Assistance and Technical Support, call 800-889-3358
1/15/2004
Outside North America, call +1-734-761-4700 ext. 2513
