Exact phrase: Use double quotation marks. For example, "life after death".
Truncation: Use an asterisk (*) to represent several possible characters. For example, behavi* will pick up behaviour, behavior, behavioral, etc.; *old will find told, household, bold, etc.
Wildcard: Use a question mark (?) to represent a single character. For example, nurse? will pick up nurses or nursed; sm?th finds smith and smyth.
More tips? See ProQuest Search Tips.
Can't find what you're looking for? Need help with your research? There are lots of ways to Get Help.
What are my keywords?
The first step is to identify the keywords that best capture the main concepts of your topic. For example, you may want to find articles that discuss what the effects of violence in the media are on children.
The main concepts are: violence, media and children. A keyword search is constructed around these concepts.
How do I connect my keywords together?
In the Advanced Search, you connect your keywords using AND or OR.
AND narrows the search because it means all the terms must appear in the record.
violence AND media AND children - all the words must be in the record for it to be pulled up in the search results.
OR expands the search because it instructs PsycINFO to look for either term in the record.
(media OR video games OR television) - if any of these words appear, the database will pull up the record. Place round parentheses around the terms connected with OR.
Use the Advanced Search in PsycINFO. Below is an example of how you might do a search on the topic noted above.
Advanced Search
