Pose the Question
Formulate a simple statement summarizing the
information you're looking for.
Identify the Main Subjects
Select the key terms you will need to search. Below is an
example of a subject search.
To search for bibliographic or publication type, see
the previous page.
Determine How to Search the
Main Subjects
Use the list of controlled terminology (Authority File
available at www.biosis.org/authorityfile.html) or the
BIOSIS Search Guide, which contains the Vocabulary
Guide. Use these two tools in determining your search
and consider narrowing and broadening the search.
Search using natural language, considering the use of
synonyms and British/U.S. spelling, making liberal use
of free text, truncation, and abbreviations.
Carry Out the Search
Formulate the search and specify the logical relationship
of your search terms through the use of Boolean and
proximity operators (e.g., and, or, etc.). For example, to
combine the search statements in Step above, type
the terms in the specific search field:
s
SAME retrieves records containing the search terms in
any order in the same sentence
s
NOT excludes records containing certain terms
from your search
s
AND retrieves records containing all terms in the
same record
s
OR retrieves records containing any of the terms in the record
s
If you enter terms in more than one field, the program
applies AND logic to combine the fields
s
Use parentheses with Boolean operators SAME, AND, OR, and
NOT to specify the order in which the operators are processed
s
Use quotation marks around the words SAME, AND, OR, or
NOT when these are not search operators
s
Truncate terms using an asterisk (*) and/or a question
mark (?) to find plurals and variant spellings of a word.
Searching Fundamentals
1
4
3
Example:
Find current therapeutic methods being used to
treat adenovirus hemorrhagic cystitis after allogeneic
marrow transplants.
2
Example:
therapy or therapeutic methods
adenovirus hemorrhagic cystitis
allogeneic marrow transplant
Example:
1)
therap*
or
therap* method*
in the TOPIC field
2)
adenovirus hemorrh* cyst*
in the TOPIC field
3)
allogeneic marrow transplant*
in the TOPIC field
Example:
TOPIC:
Enter terms to find records based on title,
abstract, and subject fields, e.g., DUCKWEED*, RETINA*
Example:
therap* = therapeutic(s) OR
therap?? = therapy OR
organi?ation* =
organization(s)
therapy
organisation(s)
therapeutically
organizational
therapsid
organisational
3
Search Strategy Development
s
s
Title only
SEARCHING
info@biosis.org · www.biosis.org
