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Nursing: Evidence-Informed Practice Search Module- Intermediate

Boolean operators - Tutorial

Boolean operators can be placed between your search terms to narrow or broaden a search, or to exclude search terms.

Boolean operators

AND - retrieves records that include all of your search terms

  • e.g., diet therapy AND bulimia

OR - retrieves records that contain at least one of your search terms

  • e.g., dog OR canine

NOT - retrieves records that contain your first term but exclude your second term

  • e.g., dementia NOT alzheimer's
  • we do not usually recommend that you use NOT in your searches, as you may exclude relevant results

You will find below a brief video on how to use the boolean operators:

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