When searching electronic journal databases, truncation and wildcard symbols allow you to expand your search. This guide is designed to allow you to easily determine the correct truncation and wildcard symbols used in the Library's databases. Please see a Reference Librarian if you need additional help.
Electronic databases differ in their use of truncation and wildcard symbols, making it time consuming to search their help screens for the correct symbols. This guide is designed to help you quickly and easily determine the correct symbols.
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
ABI/Inform Global |
? |
truncation |
child? |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
|
Academic Search Premier |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Agricola |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Alt-Health Watch |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
America: History and Life |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
American Chemistry Society Publications |
|
automatically truncates terms |
|
|
Applied Science and Technology Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Art Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (Web of Science) |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Associations Unlimited |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Alt-Press Watch |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
|
|
|
|
B |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Biography and Genealogy Master Index |
$ |
truncation |
child$ |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Biological Abstracts (Biosis) |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Biological and Agricultural Index Plus |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
BioOne |
% |
truncation |
child% |
|
Black Drama – 1850 to Present |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
. |
wildcard |
wom.n |
|
British and Irish Women's Letter and Diaries |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
. |
wildcard |
wom.n |
| |
|
|
|
|
C |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Catalog of US Government Publications 1994- |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
Catalog of US Government Publications July 1976- |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
Child Abuse, Child Welfare & Adoption Database |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
CINAHL |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Clinical Pharmacology |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Clinical Reference Systems |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Contemporary Authors |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
CQ Researcher |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Criminal Justice Periodical Index (CJPI) |
? |
truncation |
child? |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
| |
|
|
|
|
E |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures and the Environment |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
. |
wildcard |
wom.n |
|
EBSCO Animals |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Education Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
eHRAF Archaeology |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
eHRAF Ethnography |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
Encyclopedia Britannica Online |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
|
ERIC |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Ethnic Newswatch |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
|
|
|
|
F |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
| |
|
|
|
|
G |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
GenderWatch |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
General Science Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
GeoRef |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
| |
|
|
|
|
H |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Health Source: Consumer Edition |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
HealthSource: Nursing/Academic Edition |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Humanities Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
| |
|
|
|
|
I |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Ingenta (Uncover/Reveal) |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
Institute of Physics Publications |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
|
|
|
|
J |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
JSTOR |
+ |
plurals |
dog+ |
| |
|
|
|
|
L |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
LexisNexis products |
! |
truncation |
child! |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
| |
|
|
|
|
M |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
MathSciNet |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
| |
|
automatically searches for plurals and singulars |
|
|
Medline |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Middle Search Plus |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
MLA Bibliography |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Masterfile Premier |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
| |
|
|
|
|
N |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
National Criminal Justice Reference Service |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
North American Women's Letter and Diaries |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
. |
wildcard |
wom.n |
| |
|
|
|
|
O |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Omnifile Full Text Mega |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Oxford English Dictionary |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
P |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Primary Search |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Project Muse |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
ProQuest Newspapers |
? |
truncation |
child? |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
|
ProQuest Nursing Journals |
? |
truncation |
child? |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
|
PsycInfo |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
PubMed |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
|
|
|
|
R |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Readers Guide Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
| |
|
|
|
|
S |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science) |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Science Online |
* |
truncation |
child* |
|
Social Science Citation Index (Web of Science) |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Social Sciences Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Social Services Abstracts |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
|
Sociological Abstracts |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
|
Star Tribune |
? |
truncation |
child? |
| |
* |
wildcard |
wom*n |
| |
|
|
|
|
T |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) |
$ |
truncation |
child$ |
| |
|
|
|
|
W |
|
|
|
|
DATABASE |
SYMBOL |
USED FOR |
EXAMPLE |
|
Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Wilson Business Full Text |
* |
truncation |
child* |
| |
? |
wildcard |
wom?n |
|
Women's Studies International |
* |
truncation |
child* |