Boolean Operators
Boolean Operators
Boolean Operators can be used to help you create a more precise search. Boolean Operators are used by many research databases including PubMed.
There are three Boolean Operators, AND, OR, & NOT. They MUST be capitalized in a search.
AND
Use the AND operator when you want to retrieve information on two search terms.
Example: Diabetes AND exercise
OR
Use the OR operator to retrieve citations that contain either search term. Use OR when you want articles on similar subjects.
Example: Pain scales OR pain measurement
NOT
Use the NOT operator to eliminate terms from your dataset. NOT will retrieve fewer records.
Example: Blunt Trauma NOT Penetrating trauma
Advanced Boolean Searches
You can use the AND, OR and NOT operators and parentheses in different combinations to build advanced queries.
Example: ((children AND (faces pain scale OR pain assessment))
