Title Search – Search for a word or phrase in the title field of the database by clicking on the Title icon.

Journal Search – Search for documents in a specific journal by clicking on the Journal icon.

Search Fields – Search for a word or phrase contained in one or more specific document fields by clicking on the Search Fields icon.

Tools – Search for documents in the specific indexing structures of the current database such as the vocabulary Tree, Thesaurus, Table of Contents and others by clicking on the Tools icon. Note: Tools is not available in every database.

Combine – Click on the Combine icon to use the Boolean Operators "AND" or "OR" to combine the results of two or more existing search sets. "NOT," used to exclude topics, must be entered directly on the Enter Keyword or phrase line (e.g. pregnancy not birth).

Limit Set – Click on the Limit icon to restrict the results of a search to a specific limit(s) such as language, publication type, or latest update. Select one of the search sets and then select one or more specific limits from the list of available limits. One or more common limits located under the Enter Keyword or phrase line can be selected before you create a search set.

Basic – Click on the Basic icon to switch from Advanced to Basic mode.

Change Database – Start or Re-run a search in a new database or database segment by clicking on the Change Database icon. Select a new database or database segment from the list of available databases.

Logoff – Click on the LOGOFF icon to exit from the Ovid software. This ends the connection to the Ovid server and frees a user license. Logoff can also be selected from the document display screen.

Help – For more detailed explanations of all topics, click on Ovid's online Help, which can be found at the top right corner of the main search screen.

Saving and Re-executing a Search History

To Save, click on Save Search History button located under the Search History table after at least one search statement is created. To Execute a saved search, click on Run Saved Search button located under the Search History table. Then, from the displayed list of current saved search histories, select Run, Display or Delete.

Title and Citation Display

The Title Display appears immediately below the general limits on the main search page. Scroll down to view the titles or click the corresponding Display hypertext link to view retrievals from any of your search sets. Additional fields may be displayed by selecting the hypertext link Complete Record and where available, Abstract and Full Text links. Select Records by clicking on the box in front of the record from the Title Display or by clicking on the box at the top of the page from the Citation Display.

Print, Email and Save from the Citation Manager

Command Line Syntax
Delete a Search Statement from the Search History
Enter on the Enter Keyword or phrase line:
..pg x (Where "pg" means purge, i.e. delete a search statement, and x is the search set number.) or ..pg x,x,x-x (Where x are multiple search sets and/or a range of search sets.).

Field Qualification
Individual fields may be searched directly from the Enter Keyword or phrase line, using the appropriate two letter field identifier, set off with either periods or parentheses, e.g. diazepam.ti. or diazepam (ti). Selectthe Search Fields icon for a complete list of searchable fields.

Index Searching
Display any field index by using the root command, e.g. root food.ti. Select the Search Fields icon for a complete list of searchable indexes.

Boolean and Positional Operators, Combining Terms
(pregnancy or birth).ti. [either term appears in the title]
(pregnancy and birth).ti. [both terms appear in the title]
(pregnancy not birth).ti. [includes 1st term, but excludes 2nd in the title]
1 or 2 [retrieves all documents from sets 1 or 2]
Use $ or : to retrieve unlimited suffix variations (e.g. computer$.ti.)
pregnancy tests.tw. [adjacency is assumed]
(information adjX retrieval).tw. [retrieves phrases in which "information" and "retrieval" are within X words of each other in either direction ]

Truncation [statements should be field qualified]

Use $ or : to retrieve unlimited suffix variations (e.g. computer$.ti.)
Use # to replace exactly one character (e.g. wom#n.ti.)
Use ? to replace 0 or 1 character (e.g. colo?r.ti.)

Using Subject Headings [for databases with a thesaurus]
eye/ Search Subject Heading directly (bypass mapping)
eye/de or eye/de,su Include indicated Subheading(s)
exp eye Explode a subject heading
*eye Restrict to Focus, i.e. major emphasis of article(s)
ptx eye View the Permuted subject heading index
tree eye or thes eye View a term in the subject heading Tree or Thesaurus
scope eye Display Scope note for the subject heading
sh eye Display available Subheadings for the subject heading