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Guide to using CINAHL Ultimate

Search Tips

Use the search tips below to help improve your searching. 

 By using these advanced search techniques, you can increase, reduce or improve the relevancy of your search results, making it easier to find the right materials. 

Operator Example Finds articles with...
AND badgers AND tuberculosis both the word badgers and the word tuberculosis
OR badgers  AND  (tuberculosis OR TB) either the word tuberculosis or the word TB and the word badgers 
NOT badgers AND Tuberculosis AND vaccination NOT oral the words badgers, tuberculosis and vaccination but not the word oral
Proximity badgers N8 tuberculosis the words badgers and tuberculosis within 8 words of each other, in any order
Within badgers W8 tuberculosis the words badgers and tuberculosis within 8 words of each other, but badgers comes first followed by tuberculosis
Phrase "badger control" the words in the exact order - e.g. badger control but not control of badgers
* (wildcard) vaccin*

vaccine, vaccinated, vaccines

The * wildcard is generally used to find different word endings.  It works best when there are at least three letters before it.
? (Wildcard) ne?t

next, neat and nest

The ? wildcard is used to replace an unknown character
# (Wildcard) Col#r

colour and color (American spelling)

The # wildcard is generally used to find words with alternative spellings, where the alternative spelling might contain an extra character