AND / OR / NOT
Boolean operators help you explain to a database how you'd like the words in your topic or research question to be related in the results that you find. Identify the main concepts or variables in your research topic (usually 2-3 is a good starting place) and any related terms or synonyms for each concept. Then, use the following operators to build your search.
AND - Searches for articles containing both terms. Use AND to combine main concepts or variables in your search.
Example: diet AND anxiety = results contain BOTH the words "diet" and "anxiety
OR - Searches for articles that contain EITHER or BOTH terms. Use for synonyms or related terms.
Example: women OR woman OR female OR girl = all results that mention any of these words
NOT - Excludes articles that contain a term. Use sparingly.
Example: anxiety NOT "obsessive compulsive disorder" = results that mention the word "anxiety" but not the term "obsessive compulsive disorder"
Tip: In most advanced search screens there are multiple search boxes where you can use each box to represent a "main concept" in your search. Here's an example search for information about the relationship between diet and anxiety in women.
