Basic Search

Instructions for using the J-Gate Custom Content Search Interface

(Basic Search)

Table of Contents

A basic search of articles consists of the words or phrases you want to find in the Title, Author, Affiliation, Abstract & Keyword fields. You can refine a basic search by using wildcard expressions, Boolean operators and nested expressions.

Searches are not case-sensitive, so you can type your search in uppercase or lowercase characters.

You can search for any combination of letters (a–z) and numbers (0–9). Characters such as tilde [~], caret [^], back quote [`], back slash [\], forward slash [/], double quotes ["], single quote ['], greater than [>], lesser than [<], pipe [|], braces [{}], square brackets [[]] are ignored during the search.

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Search Database

All journal articles listed in the TOC are compiled into the Database. The articles are subject indexed and are searchable by giving words or phrases as search queries. The different options for using this type of search are,

Anywhere, that is, the search query could be present anywhere in the title, author, keyword and abstract.

Title/keyword, that is, the search query should be present in the title/keyword field of the search result.

Author, that is, the search query should be present in the author field of the search result.

The above types of Database searches could be enhanced by performing them in conjunction with the following,

Limiting search to publication year

Limiting search to content level, or number of records per result page

Limiting search to free journals

The Database search result offers journal articles matching the search query. The result also shows bibliographic details, similar to TOC.

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Other types of searches in the Database

1) Logical search

Logical search uses boolean operators "AND", and "OR" to match the records.

Using boolean operator "AND"

The search query using "AND" will be

(a) Word 1 AND Word 2, or

(b) Word 1 AND Word 2 AND Word 3.....

Using either (a) or (b) as search query will return records containing all the words given in the query.

Example for using boolean operator "AND" :

(a) Search query - psychiatry AND psychology

Records containing both psychiatry and psychology will be returned.

(b) Search query - psychiatry AND psychology AND mental health

Records containing psychiatry, psychology and mental health will be returned

Using boolean operator "OR" :

The search query using "OR" will be

(a) Word 1 OR Word 2, or

(b) Word 1 OR Word 2 OR Word 3.....

Using either (a) or (b) as search query will return records with either one of the words given in the query.

Example for using boolean operator "OR" :

(a) Search query - psychiatry OR psychology

Records containing either psychiatry or psychology will be returned

(b) Search query - psychiatry OR psychology OR mental health

Records containing either psychiatry or psychology or mental health

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2) Phrase search

When one or more words are used for search query, phrase search will be performed.

Example:

When the phrase 'mental health' is given as search query, the result will show only such records that have 'mental health' as a phrase.

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3) Lateral search

Lateral search can be performed by author names or keywords in the result page. While lateral search by author name will return records written by the specified author, lateral search by keyword will return records containing the specific keyword

Example:

When the phrase 'mental health' is given as search query, the result will show only such records that have 'mental health' as a phrase. A lateral search may be performed to list other articles of the author of article in 'mental health' result page/s. Similarly, a lateral search may also be performed to list other articles with similar keywords as in articles in result page of 'mental health' result page, by clicking on the keywords listed against the article.

Using Wildcard characters

You can use the following wildcard characters in your search:

Wildcard character	Example	Results
?	?ave	Returns results containing the words "Save", "Have", "Dave" etc.
*	Eng*	Returns results containing the words "Engine", "Engineer", "Engineering", "English" etc.

Using Boolean Operators

You can use the following Boolean operators for a more focused search:

Boolean Operator	Description	Example	Results
OR	Either one of the words	Mechanical OR Chemical	Returns results containing either the word "Mechanical" or the word "Chemical"
AND	Both the words	Mechanical AND Chemical	Returns results containing both the words "Mechanical" and "Chemical"
NOT	The first term without the second term	Mechanical NOT Chemical	Returns results containing the word “Mechanical” but not the word “Chemical”.

Using Nested Expressions

You can use parentheses to nest expressions within a query. The expressions in parentheses are evaluated before the rest of the query. If a query does not contain a nested expression, it is evaluated from left to right. A description of how the search engine interprets a non-nested expression is given below:

Query Expression	Search Engine Interpretation	Results
Engineer AND Mechanical AND Chemical	(Engineer AND Mechanical AND Chemical)	Returns results containing all the words "Engineer", "Mechanical" and "Chemical" .
Engineer OR Mechanical OR Chemical	(Engineer OR Mechanical OR Chemical)	Returns results containing any of the words "Engineer", "Mechanical" or "Chemical" .
Engineer AND Mechanical OR Chemical	(Engineer AND Mechanical) OR Chemical	Returns results containing the words “Engineer” and "Mechanical" or the word “Chemical” only or containing all the words.
Engineer OR Mechanical AND Chemical	Engineer OR ( Mechanical AND Chemical)	Returns results containing the word “Engineer” only or both the words "Mechanical" and “Chemical” or containing all the words.
Engineer NOT Mechanical AND Chemical	Engineer (NOT Mechanical AND Chemical)	Returns results containing the word “Engineer” but not the words "Mechanical" and "Chemical".
Engineer NOT Mechanical OR Chemical	(Engineer NOT Mechanical) OR Chemical	Returns results containing “Engineer” but not the word "Mechanical" or containing the words "Engineer" and "Chemical" or containing the word "Chemical" only.

If you want the search engine to interpret your search query in a different way, use parenthesis at the appropriate places.

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The Search Interface

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The Search Box at the top allows you to type your query. You can use the Boolean operators (AND, OR) and wildcard characters (?,*) to refine your search. The search is case-insensitive.
Search terms are considered to be delimited by Boolean operators. If you type two or more words without any Boolean operators in between, they are treated as a single phrase.
You can use the option buttons provided below the search box to specify where to search. If you select Anywhere (the default option), the search will include Title, Author, Keywords, Abstract and Affiliation fields.
You can also limit the search to an year range.
Use the 'Clear' button to reset the search.

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