Scopus guide

Instructions for use of the Scopus database

Boolean operators

Boolean operators AND, OR, AND NOT can be written in lowercase or uppercase letters.

Sequentially written words is the AND operation:

wind power is the same as wind AND power

Without parentheses, the program performs operations in the following order:

sensor W/15 robot AND water OR orbit OR planet

  1. OR
  2. W/n, PRE/n
  3. AND
  4. AND NOT
  1. OR: First, Scopus processes the OR connector by looking for documents containing water, orbit, or planet.
  2. W/15: Next, it looks for documents where sensor is within 15 words of robot.
  3. AND: Scopus processes the AND operator last, returning any documents it found in steps 1 and 2 that contain water, orbit, or planet, and also contain sensor within 15 words of robot.

 

Parentheses can be used to specify the order of execution - the program always executes the brackets first

finland or finnish and pisa  is the same as (finland or finnish) and pisa

(wind OR solar) AND (power OR energy)  

(robot* w/2 hand) OR (robot* pre/3 arm)

Scopus example | Boolean operators

Alternative keywords are placed in the same search box and combined with the OR operator.

Topics are connected using the AND operator.

Add search field: Add search lines..

The completed search phrase can also be copied as such to the top row. Note the parentheses outside the OR sections.

(game* OR gamif* OR gaming OR videogam* OR exergam* OR edugam*) AND (language* OR linguistic* OR pronunciat* OR vocabular*) AND (learn* OR acquisit* OR educat* OR teach* OR student*)