| SEARCH FUNDAMENTALS |
Learn about the building blocks of a systematic search
| Search Modes Use both modes to search thoroughly |
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| Text word search – Finds terms in a publication’s title, abstract, and other parts |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Controlled vocabulary search – Find publications tagged with a standardized term that indicates the subject matter |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Search Terms Use a broad range of words to describe your topic |
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| Text words – Compile the terms that may appear in the publication’s text |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Controlled vocabulary – Identify the standardized term used by the database to describe your topic |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Search Operators Use operators to define logical relationships among search terms |
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| OR – Join similar terms, such as synonyms and related concepts |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| AND – Combine different concepts |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Parentheses ( ) – Combine a logical group of terms with another group – Conduct a nested search |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Double quotation marks “ ” – Search for a phrase (a multi-word expression) |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Truncation operator – Retrieve the different endings of a word stem |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Field Search | |
| – Restrict the search to specific parts of a database record | Video | Slides | Guide |
| Special Search Functions Search tools that work in some databases, not all |
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| Wildcard search – Retrieve different characters within a word |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Proximity search – Find one word with a specific distance of another word |
Video | Slides | Guide |
| Search Filters | |
| – Find publications that meet methodological or topical characteristics | Video | Slides | Guide |
| Search Strategy Write the search statement for the search box |
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| Formulate a strategy: step-by-step | Video | Slides | Guide |
| Translate a strategy: step-by-step from PubMed to Embase | Video | Slides | Guide |
