Medline
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EMbase
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notable difference from Embase & PsycInfo: search author supplied keywords with kf
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notable difference from Medline & PsycInfo: search author supplied keywords with kw
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PsycInfo
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notable difference from Medline and Embase: search author supplied keywords with .id.
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Notable Field codes
EBSCO Tag
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Function
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Ovid Equivalent
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SU
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subject heading word
EX: 'SU diabetes' will retrieve items with 'diabetes' in the subject heading, such as 'Non-insulin-dependent diabetes'
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hw
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ZU
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exact subject heading
EX: 'ZU diabetes' will retrieve items with the subject heading 'Diabetes'
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sh
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ZW
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author supplied keywords
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kf/kw/id
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Note: TI and AB must be searched as separate lines (no equivalent to "search term".ti,ab. )
Search default for multi word search terms
The default search for multi word terms that are not enclosed in quotation marks is a proximity search (the default is N5). Use quotation marks to force a phrase search, or the proximity command Nn to change the range of acceptable distance between terms. For example:
![](https://libapps-ca.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/106923/images/default_proximity_in_cinahl.PNG)
Notes:
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the new system now includes unlimited endings for wildcards; the number of truncated terms in a query has been limited to 256
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the new system allows for phrase searching with quotation marks " "
Field codes list ( ex: TITLE-ABS-KEY(diabetic foot))
Notes:
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Truncation can be anywhere (beginning, middle, end)
? = replaces a single character
* = replaces multiple characters
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W/n = within n
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PRE/n = 1st term precedes 2nd term by n
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For loose phrases use "" example: "criminal* insan*" finds insane criminals, criminally insane, and criminal insanity.
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For an exact phrase use {} example: {criminally insane} **this turns off term mapping
Tips from expert searching listserv:
- If you’ve already searched Embase, you can remove all those records from your Scopus searching by adding:
AND NOT INDEX ( embase )
- If you want to remove Medline/PubMed citations you can add:
AND NOT INDEX ( medline ) AND NOT ( PMID ( 0* OR 1* OR 2* OR 3* OR 4* OR 5* OR 6* OR 7* OR 8* OR 9* ) )
Notes:
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complex searches are best run in the Search Manager
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truncation (*) can take place anywhere in a term (beginning, middle, end)
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? can be used for a single character within a word
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proximity searching uses NEAR/n or NEXT
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MeSH terms must appear inside square brackets []
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use ^ to search for an unexploded mesh term. Example: [mh ^“diabetes mellitus”]
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use { } to combine ranges: example:{AND #1-#4} {OR #1-4,#7,#9}
Notes:
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Uses DeCS controlled vocabulary - an enlarged translation for MeSH that includes English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish
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Use AND NOT instead of NOT
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Truncation (* or $) cannot be used with phrases or compound terms in quotes.
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Case and word accentuation (Portuguese and Spanish) do not affect the results