This information is specifically written to provide information on searching Science Citation Index on the Web of Science Platform. Other database systems may have different proximity operators and truncation symbols.
To search indexes such as Science Citation Index a search strategy must be developed. The following steps can guide users through the process:
1. Identify search topics. This can be done by writing a sentence describing the topic of interest:
Origin of Cosmic Rays Wireless Power Transfer
Magnetic Switching Zinc Vaporization
Identify the key terms in those phrases. These are the terms that will be searched in the indexes.
Origin of Cosmic Rays Wireless Power Transfer
Magnetic Switching Zinc Vaporization
2. Use quotation marks to search for phrases.
“Cosmic Rays” "Wireless Power Transfer" "Magnetic Switch"
3. Connect search terms using AND.
Origin AND “Cosmic Rays” “Wireless Power Transfer” AND “Magnetic Resonance”
Zinc AND Vaporization “Magnetic Switching” AND “Information Processing”
4. Combine similar terms using OR. If other terms can be used to describe a concept, search them as well, but combine them using OR instead of AND. For example, genetic mappping could also be called genetic testing or genetic sequencing.
Origin = Source Zinc = ZN
(Origin OR Source) AND “Cosmic Rays” (Zinc OR Zn) AND Vaporization
5. Use parentheses to group parts of searches together. Terms in parentheses are searched before the rest of the terms. See examples above.
6. To search various forms of a word, use Wildcards and Truncation Symbols. The truncation symbol in Biological Abstracts and Science Citation Index is the asterisk (*). The ? (Question Mark) and $ (Dollar Sign) are used as wildcards.
* (Asterisk) – Used as a truncation symbol to search for all forms of a term.
Examples: Molecul* Finds: Molecule, Molecules, Molecular
Magnet* Finds: Magnet, Magnets, Magnetometer, Magnetic, etc.
Metal* Finds: Metal, Metals, Metallic, Metallurgy, Metallurgical, etc.
? (Question Mark) – Used as a truncation symbol to replace only one character.
Examples: Molecule? Finds: Molecule and Molecules but not Molecular
Magnet? Finds: Magnet and Magnets but not Magnetometer, Magnetic, etc.
$ (Dollar Sign) – Used to replace zero or one character.
Examples: Star$burst Finds: Star Burst, Starburst or Star-Burst
Colo$r Finds: Color or Colour
Pal$oclimatology Finds: Paleoclimatology or Palaeoclimatology
7. Use NOT to eliminate terms that might not be appropriate for your research.
(Turbulence AND (Suppression OR Reduction)) NOT Gas
(Molecular AND Cloud) NOT Earth
8. Use the Find It button to see if a journal article is available in the WIU Libraries. All records in Science Citation Index will have a button that looks like this:
NOTE: Many of these techniques work in Google too!