| Library
SEARCHING SYNTAX GUIDE FOR COMMON DATABASE PLATFORMS
| EBSCO APA PsycInfo, ERIC | Scopus | Ovid MEDLINE | PubMed | Google Scholar |
Boolean AND, OR, NOT | Yes | Yes. Note: Use AND NOT for NOT | Yes | Yes | Limited, in Advanced Search |
Natural language searching | Yes | Limited | In Basic Search | Yes | Yes |
Subject headings | Mapped in some databases1 | Not mapped | Mapped | Mapped or search in MeSH database | N/A |
Combine search sets e.g. #1 AND (#2 OR #3) | Click on “Search History” | Under “Search History” on main page | On main search page | Click on “Advanced Search” | N/A |
Truncation e.g. random* | * | * | * | * | N/A |
Wildcard e.g. wom?n, randomi#ed | # - any or no character ? - a character must be present | ? - a character must be present3 | # - character must be present ? - any or no character | N/A | N/A |
Exact phrase searching e.g. “randomized controlled trial” | Quotation marks required | Quotations marks or {curly brackets} required | Automatically searches by phrase | Yes. Note: Quotes will turn off Automatic Term Mapping. | Quotation marks required |
Truncate in phrase e.g. “random* controlled trial*” | Yes2 | Yes | Yes | Yes. Note: Quotes will turn off Automatic Term Mapping. | N/A |
1) EBSCO databases without mapping will have a searchable list of subject headings under “Indexes” or “Thesaurus”.
2) Ensure that quotation marks are of the straight up and down kind - "data sovereignty" - not the curly kind - “data sovereignty”.
3) If truncation or wildcards are not used, Scopus will automatically retrieve the singular and plural forms, British and American spellings.
Adapted from Geoffrey and Robyn Sperber Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta Library. (2023). Searching Syntax Guide for Common Database Platforms.
Last updated June 2026
Contact: victoria.eke@concordia.ab.ca
FIELD TAG SEARCHING | EBSCO | Scopus | Ovid | PubMed | Google Scholar |
In Title | TI migraine | TITLE(migraine) | migraine.ti. | migraine[ti] | In Advanced Search |
In Abstract | AB migraine | ABS(migraine) | migraine.ab. | migraine[ab] | N/A |
In Title or Abstract | TI migraine OR AB migraine | TITLE(migraine) OR ABS(migraine) | migraine.ti,ab. | migraine[tiab] | N/A |
As Keyword | No field tag needed | TITLE-ABS-KEY(migraine) | migraine.mp. | No field tag needed | Full text keyword search |
As Subject Heading | SU migraine4 | N/A | migraine/ or migraine.sh. | migraine[Mesh] | N/A |
ADJACENCY SEARCHING | EBSCO | Scopus | Ovid | PubMed | Google Scholar |
Within N words randomized within N words before or after trial | randomized N3 trial | randomized W/3 trial | randomized adj3 trial | N/A | N/A |
Within N words in exact order randomized is within N words before trial | randomized W3 trial | randomized PRE/3 trial | N/A | N/A | N/A |
4) Field tags, as well as subject headings, vary by database.