Academic Search Complete
Basic Search | Search Options | Search Limits (how to search full text, scholarly journals, etc)
You will automatically start off in Basic Search. You can simply type in your search terms and hit enter. However, Academic Search Complete does NOT assume an "AND" between terms in the same box. If you type in several search terms, they may not be found in the document together.
Basic Search has several search options for you to choose from. For the most part, you won't have to change the options. However, in case you ever want to, here is what each option does:
- Boolean/Phrase: This is the default search box.
- Find All My Search Terms: This option places an "AND" in between your search terms. You will only find article that have all your terms.
- Find Any of My Search Terms: This option places an "OR" in between your search terms. You will find articles that have any of your terms.
- SmartText Searching: This option lets you enter in a sentence or even a paragraph and will find similar articles. Be warned, this can be a tricky search to pull off!
- Apply Related Words: This is a built-in thesaurus!
- Also Search Within the Full Text of the Articles: This searches the entire article for your search terms. This is handy if you are looking for words that may not commonly show up in the title of articles.
Academic Search Complete has several limiters which could be very helpful in your research. For the most part, they are self explanatory. Here's a breakdown of the most relevant/useful limiters:
1 - Full Text: Check this box for full text. Full-text articles can be viewed and printed in their entirety through the database.
2 - Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals: Check this box for scholarly/peer-reviewed journals. In many cases, your professors will expect you to use scholarly articles for your papers.
3 - References Available: Check this box for articles with references available.
4 - Published Date: Use these boxes to limit your search to a particular date range.
5 - Publication Type: If you need a specific type of publication, like a magazine or a newspaper article, select that here.
6 - Language: Use this menu to specify what language you want your articles in. This is handy if you are receiving a large number of foreign language articles.