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Database Guides: CQ Researcher

Search Hints

  • Use specific words instead of general ones. For example, a search for "global warming" will return fewer and more targeted results than will a search for "warming."
  • Use AND, OR, THE only if you're searching for phrases containing these words, such as "Banking and Finance". If you get too many results, try your search without them. To search for documents containing the words Banking and Finance, enter the terms as Banking Finance (without the and). See Advanced searching tips and the list of search commands and search operators for more help on constructing search syntax.
  • Use quotation marks around a phrase to search for an exact match of those words in sequence. For example, to find the words Affirmative Action in that order, enter the terms with quotation marks, "Affirmative Action". Without the quotation marks, you may end up with results containing the words "affirmative" and "action" in other contexts.
  • Use NOT to narrow your search: If you enter alcohol not driving, your search will return only those documents that include the word alcohol and exclude the word driving.
  • Use a wildcard (*) for multiple endings: By typing an * (asterisk symbol) at the end of a word, you can search for items with multiple endings. For example: work* will find results for work, worker, workers, workplace, and working.

Search Commands and Search Operators

To find one word and another word Separate the words with a space or separate with "and" children divorce; children and divorce
To find words in an exact sequence Use quotation marks "children and divorce"
To find one word or another word Separate terms with "or" Clinton or Bush
To find one word but not another Separate terms with "not" Clinton not Bush
To find any words starting with a specific sequence of letters Use the asterisk symbol (*) work*
To find any character in a word Use the ? symbol wom?n will find woman, women
To find words within x number of words of each other Separate words with a "w" and a slash mark (/) and the number of words which can occur between the search terms electoral w/10 college will find the words "electoral" and "college" within 10 words of each other