EBSCOhost Databases Tutorial: Begin Your Search

From the EBSCOhost search screen, there are many ways to limit or refine your search. For example, you can:

• Choose one or more databases to focus on a subject area such as science or psychology. Or, search all EBSCOhost databases at once.
• Limit your search to peer reviewed (scholarly) journal articles.
• Choose a date range to limit the results of your search.

The drop-down menus to the left of the second and third search boxes control how the search will treat the words you enter. 

• AND = Find results containing this search word AND the one(s) you entered above it.
• OR = Find results containing either this search word OR the one(s) you entered above it.
• NOT = Exclude items containing this word from the search results.

AND, OR and NOT are known as "Boolean Operators" when they are used to connect your search words.

The drop-down menu to the right of each search box controls where EBSCOhost searches for that word. For example:

• ALL FIELDS: match to your search word(s) wherever they appear, including title, author name, subject, abstract (summary) of an article, and the full text when available.
• AUTHOR: enter a name to search for results with a matching author.
• TITLE: match only if your search word(s) are in the title of a search result.
• SUBJECT TERMS: look for results categorized with your search word as the subject / topic.