Databases
SCIENCE DIRECT - Best Science Research Database
Using Advanced Search in Science Direct - Link
Boolean operators must be entered in all uppercase (AND, OR, NOT)
Example: stress OR anxiety
The hyphen - (or minus symbol) is interpreted as the NOT operator
Example: black -hole will return results with 'black', but exclude any where 'hole' appears with it.
Parentheses can be used when nesting clauses
Example: (a OR b) AND (c OR d)
Quotation marks can be used to specify terms which must appear next to each other
Example: "heart attack" OR "myocardial infarction"
Plurals and spelling variants are automatic: strand includes strands, color includes colour
Greek letters and character equivalents - enter the word
Example: omega Results will include omega, symbols Ω (uppercase) and ω (lowercase).
Subscript and superscript: Enter in normal text
Example: H2O
Additional Hints and Reminders
Try contacting the author(s) of an article if you can't find the full text version.
Stop by or email Mrs. Sudol if you are still having trouble accessing an article (tsudol@yorktown.org).
Every database has different search rules and operators. Get familiar with the database you use most often.
Do your citations while you are searching. It is easier to do it while searching than creating citations later.
Use mybib.com and make sure you are logged in to your account.
Proquest
Boolean operators must be entered in all uppercase (AND, OR, NOT)
Example: stress OR anxiety
Quotation marks can be used to specify terms which must appear next to each other (compound terms)
Example: "social media"
Find alternate word endings using the truncation character *
Example: leader* will return leader, leaders, leadership
Proximity operator NEAR/ to find words that are close together
Example: television NEAR/4