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Google Scholar

A how-to guide on searching Google Scholar effectively.

Boolean Operators Explained

A Boolean Operator is a word that is used to connect similar or different terms to more effectively search a database. 

The Big 3:

AND Connects two different concepts together, Used to limit searches. Results MUST contain both terms.  (cats) AND (dogs)
OR  Connects similar terms into one element. Used to expand searches. Results will contain AT LEAST one term. (cats OR kitties OR kittens OR felines)
NOT Excludes a specific term from your results, even if the terms you do want appear in an article. USE CAUTIOUSLY.  (cats) AND (dogs) NOT (rabbits)

Please note that the syntax demonstrated here is not specific to any database or search engine. It is just used to demonstrate how these concepts can be visualized. You can check a database's syntax by Googling "Database" AND syntax. 

How to use a Boolean Operator

In Google Scholar see the following chart for how to input these operators into the search box. Please note that each database has its own syntax. This means that Google Scholar may have the same capabilities as a database but uses symbols differently. 

AND cats AND dogs Combines two different elements of a query.
OR Bookstore (Cats OR kittens OR felines) Combines two similar elements of a query. 
NOT

Bookstore Cats -dogs

You do not have to spell out the word. Use a minus or hyphen symbol (-)

 Rejects any article that contains that specific term. 
AROUND

Cat AROUND (#) Veterinarians 

spell 'around' in all caps, # stands for the number of words a term should be around another

 Looks for terms within a certain number of each other. This is not for exact phrase searching. 
"Quotation marks" "Kitty cats", "Feline pets", etc.  Quotes tell Google Scholar to search for that phrase as a set rather than separate words. 
~

~University

Results will pull back terms like "college", "University", "Higher education", etc.

 Used for synonyms. Expands your search.
* Walk* = walker, walks, walking, walked, etc.  A wild card that will look up any particular suffix of a term so that you do not have to add all of them individually. 
... Computers price 400...600$ Can be used for a numeric range. 

 

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