Neil John Maclean
Health Sciences Library
University of Manitoba
ph. 204-789-3342
healthlibrary@umanitoba.ca
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When you type phrases into the search box some databases will assume you want a phrase and others will search for the words as unconnected terms. To search for a phrase instead of a group of unconnected terms you need to format your search in a particular way.
In most databases, (e.g. CINAHL) you can do a phrase search by putting quotation marks around the phrase. If you do that the database will search for the terms within the quotes in the exact order that you typed them into the search box.
To search for a phrase...
e.g.
This is a screen capture of the CINAHL search history for the example search.
The search with quotes finds results where that exact phrase is found where in the search without quotes the words may not be found next to each other in the results. The search with quotes found 496 fewer results and is more focused.