| Most available search software is very intuitive, and you
will be prompted to enter your search choices in plain English.
However, you can save a lot of time by typing in the search commands
yourself. The search notation is fairly simple. The following are
search terms usable in OVID. Terms may vary depending on the database
used.
Search suffixes: adding the following to the end of your search
word adds specific context to the word. For
GM and PM searching:
| Notation (for OVID) |
example |
Explanation |
| / |
Angina Pectoris/ |
for MeSH
terms, retrieves all subheadings |
| /xx |
Angina Pectoris/di |
for MeSH terms, retrieves specific subheading |
| .ab |
ulcer.ab |
finds citations with a search word in the abstract |
| .ti |
ulcer.ti |
finds citations with a search word in the title |
| .tw |
ulcer.tw |
finds citations with a search word in the text |
| .sh |
Peptic Ulcer.sh |
finds citations by Subject Heading |
| .mp |
ulcer.mp |
finds citations with a search word as a key word. Includes title,
abstract, text word, subject heading and registry numbers |
| $ (* in GM and PM) |
diabet$.tw |
wild card searches for text words matching the fragment, for
example diabetes, diabetic, ect. |
| .jn |
JAMA.jn |
search all citations from a particular journal |
| .au |
Smith-ab.au |
author search |
| .yr |
99.yr |
all citations in the year |
| .ui |
12345678.iu |
retrieves citation by it's 8 digit unique identifier |
| .pt |
randomized controlled trial.pt |
searches citations matching a publication type |
Search "prefix's" modify the search as follow
| * |
*Angina Pectoris |
performs a focused search on a MeSH
term |
| exp |
exp Angina Pectoris |
performs an exploded search on a MeSH term |
| ptx |
ptx angina |
displays the permuted index
for the word which follows |
| tree |
tree Angina Pectoris |
displays the MeSH
tree for the MeSH term which follows |
| adj |
ulcer adj bleeding.tw |
searches citations where the text words (tw) ulcer and bleeding are
adjacent. also use with ti,ab |
| adj# |
ulcer adj5 bleeding.ti |
search for citations where the words ulcer and bleeding are adjacent
to within 5 words, in this example, in the title. |
Combine terms
| ulcer.ab,ti |
comma separates suffix |
search citations where ulcer is found in the abstract or the title |
| (ulcer and diabetes).tw |
use parentheses to apply suffix to a Boolean combination |
search citations where both ulcer AND diabetes are text words |
| ulcer adj bleeding.tw |
use adj to find citations where two words are adjacent to one
another |
search citations where the text words ulcer and bleeding are adjacent
words |
| ulcer adj5 bleeding.ti |
two words are adjacent within the specified number
of words |
search citations where the text words ulcer and bleeding are adjacent
within 5 words in the title |
|
