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Advanced Search Examples

Search for records by using field tags, set combinations or a combination of both. Booleans and wildcards are allowed.

AD=(Stevens SAME WI)

Finds records containing Stevens and WI in the same address.

AO=PSR 0531 +21 NOT AO=2CG 184 -05

Finds records containing the controlled astronomical object designation AO=PSR 0531 +21, but excludes the designation called AO=2CG 184 -05.

AU=Langdon AND AU=Nordin

Finds records of articles written by these two authors.

AU=Langdon T* AND PY=2005

Finds records of articles published in 2005 that were written by T. Langdon.

CH=(Cu2 SAME Sr2)

Finds records containing Cu2 and Sr2 in a chemical system with three or more components. Here, the SAME operator specifies that Cu2 and Sr2 be components of the same system. If they were combined with AND, then Cu2 could be a component of one system and Sr2 a component of a different system in the same record.

CI=light scattering AND CI=WKB calculations

Finds records containing both these classifications in the Controlled Indexing field of a record.

CL=A9760J AND CL=A9710R

Finds records containing these two classification codes in the Classification Code(s) field of a record.

IC=960 8052 86 6

Finds records containing this identifying code. The product searches the following field categories.

  • CODEN
  • CODEN of translation
  • Inspec Accession Number
  • ISSN
  • ISSN of translation
  • Standard Book Number
  • Report Number
  • Contract Number
  • Patent Number
  • Original Patent Number
  • SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier)
  • SICI of translation

MI=(acoustics AND speech AND 2006)

Finds records containing these three items in the Conference Information field of a record.

SO=(Robotics and Autonomous Systems) OR SO=Robotica

Finds records containing articles written in either of these two journals.

SO=(Robotics and Autonomous Systems OR Robotica) AND TS=telerobot*

Finds records of articles published in Robotics and Autonomous Systems or Robotica in which the term telerobot (telerobots, telerobotics, etc.) appears.

TI=computer network* AND TI=robot*

Finds records containing the terms computer network (or computer networks, networked computers, etc.) and robot (or robots, robotic, robotics, etc.) in the title of an article.

TS="solar power" AND PY=2003

Finds records containing the phrase solar power in a Topic field in records of documents published in 1999.

TS=(computer network* AND robot*) NOT TS=telerobot*

Finds records containing the term computer network (or computer networks, networked computers, etc.) and robot (or robots, robotic, robotics, etc.), but excluding records that contain the term telerobot (or telerobots, telerobotic, and telerobotics, etc.) in the following Full Record fields.

  • Title
  • Abstract
  • Controlled Index
  • Uncontrolled Index
  • Classification Heading

UI=humanoid robot*

Finds records containing the phrase humanoid robot, humanoid robotic, humanoid robotical, etc. in the Uncontrolled Indexing field.

TS=(wireless AND mobile) AND #1 NOT #2

Finds all records containing the search terms wireless and mobile as well as all records in set #1 but exclude records in set #2.

Field Tags

  • AD=Address
  • AO=Astronomical Index
  • AU=Author
  • CH=Chemical Index
  • CI=Controlled Index
  • CL=Classification
  • IC=Identifying Codes
  • MI=Meeting Information
  • PY=Year Published
  • SO=Source Title
  • TI=Title (article title)
  • TS=Topic
  • UI=Uncontrolled Index

Search Query Rules

  • Each search term in the query must be explicitly tagged with a field tag. Different fields must be connected with Boolean operators.

  • All current rules regarding stopwords apply to the Topic and Title fields.

  • Extraneous spaces are ignored by the product. For example, extra spaces around opening and closing parentheses ( ) and equal (=) signs are ignored.

  • For set combinations, enter a number (#) sign before each set number in the query.

  • Do not use the SAME operator with different field tags. For example, TS=cell SAME AU=Wells is not allowed.

  • The total number of search sets that you can run during a session is 200. If you attempt to run a query that exceeds the maximum, the product displays an error message and the search does not run.

Search Tips

  • To search for anonymous authors, enter AU=anon.

    Note that anon will also find authors whose last name is Anon.

  • To search on the name AND, OR, NOT, and SAME, enclose the name in quotation marks. Example: "Or"

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