A comprehensive search requires you to search in multiple databases to make sure you have located all relevant articles for your question. Once you have built your search, it's time to translate it to your other databases.
**Read the help section for any unfamiliar database**
Rules for one database may be slightly different than another. It's also OK to ask a librarian for guidance or to proof-read your translation!
A search string often has a combination of controlled vocabulary terms and free-text terms. These get translated two different ways. Databases often have their own set of controlled vocabulary terms. When you translate a MeSH term, for example, you will need to identify the term(s) that most closely matches it in the new database's controlled vocabulary. For free-text terms that use field tags like [tiab], you will need to translate the field tag. Your ORs and ANDs will stay the same.
Example:
PubMed
("Pain, Postoperative"[Mesh] OR "post-surgical pain"[tiab] OR "postsurgical pain"[tiab] OR "post-operative pain"[tiab] OR "postoperative pain"[tiab])
Embase
('postoperative pain'/exp OR ('post-surgical pain' OR 'postsurgical pain' OR 'post-operative pain' OR 'postoperative pain'):ti,ab)
Limits of the Polyglot tool:
Always evaluate the translated search string.
**Read the help section for any unfamiliar database**
PubMed search syntax
See the PubMed User Guide or HSL's PubMed research guide for more tips.
Embase search syntax (Embase.com)
See HSL's Embase research guide or Elsevier's Embase Support Center for more tips.
CINAHL search syntax (EBSCO)
CINAHL contains some full-text articles. To search within the full text of these, use TX( )
See HSL's CINAHL research guide for more tips.
PsycInfo search syntax (EBSCO)
PsycInfo contains some full-text articles. To search within the full text of these, use TX( )
See in-database help for more tips.
Web of Science search syntax
See in-database help for more tips.
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (also known as CENTRAL) search syntax
See in-database help for more tips.
Note: Use an incognito browser window to minimize the influence of your location and prior searches.
Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT)
Terms
Proximity searching
Recall that in a Google search, your terms can appear anywhere on the page. You can require that the terms are within a certain distance of each other by using AROUND() , where the maximum number of words that can be between the terms goes inside the parentheses.
Example: advanced AROUND(3) cancer
Search structure
You can force Google to include words by using intitle:, allintitle:, intext:, and allintext:.
Limit by domain
If you include site: in your query, Google will restrict the results to those websites in the given domain. For instance, a search on asthma site:gov will find pages on asthma within .gov urls. A search on asthma site:cdc.gov will find pages from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about asthma. Note there can be no space between site: and the domain.
More Google tips
Google Search Help: Refine Web Searches: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433
6 common misconceptions when doing advanced Google Searching: http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2015/10/6-common-misconceptions-when-doing.html