A slightly different set of strategies is needed to effectively search a database over the open web. Below are some tips that will help you navigate SciFinder's powerful index of references, substances, and reactions.
Use ORs and parentheses to combine synonyms or multiple topics
(oil OR petroleum OR crude)
(antibiotic OR antiviral)
(fireproof OR flame OR smoke)
Truncate roots of important words* to find plurals and more
suppress* (searches for suppress, suppresses, supressant, etc.)
polymer* (polymer, polymers, polymerization, polymerizations, polymeric, etc.)
plastic* (plastic, plastics, plasticize, plasticizes, plasticizer, plasticizers, plasticization, etc.)
Insert a “wild card” [*?$!] to catch words with different spellings
wom?n
coloni#ation
odo$r
*Truncation and wild cards work differently in different databases. Check the help section of the database to learn what symbol to use and how to properly use it.
Combine concepts with AND to find more relevant sources
monomer* AND phenol*
environment* AND pollution
polymer* AND "water purification" AND flocculation
Use “double quotes” to find exact phrases
"tissue engineering"
“flame retardant”
“water purification"
Use parentheses to logically nest your search queries
polymer* AND (fireproof or flame or smoke) AND (retard* or suppress*)
This query searches for references that contain a combination of polymer and one of the terms from the first parentheses and one of the terms from the second parentheses. This is a strategy for casting a wider net while still being particular about which terms you are selecting in your search results.
When references are added to a database such as SciFinder, analysts carefully look over each resource and assign them concepts using official agreed-upon language in the field or database company. These concepts are used to retrieve your results whenever you enter a search query into the database. The "Concepts" filter is a great way to refine search results and see what kinds of concepts are showing up in your search. You can also browse the full CAS lexicon of concepts to build targeted search queries and find synonyms, though you shouldn't need these if you are using the official CAS concept term.
Search tools like the library catalog and article databases use subject headings to describe sources and the topics they cover. You can use these subject headings to find other sources:
Combine multiple, similar subject headings using OR between them to create a broad, comprehensive search.