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The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More

How to search in the health sciences

Video: Searching with phrases

To view this video in full screen:

  1. play the video
  2. click on the "cog" icon
  3. select "enter full screen"
  4. to exit full screen hit the escape (ESC) key

Basics of phrase searching

  • Some databases assume that words typed next to each other should be searched as phrases.
  • Others automatically put a Boolean AND between your search terms, requiring that all the words be present, but not necessarily adjacent to each other.
  • These searches can retrieve very different results.

  • Using parentheses or quotes around search words is a common way to do phrase searching, but not all databases or search engines use them.

Examples: 

"genetic engineering"

(genetic engineering)