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NOTE: Depending on your organization's product subscription, Terms & Connectors searching may not be available.
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Boolean searching is the traditional way to search for information in most online services. It uses words and connectors to create phrases and concepts based on specific rules of search logic. The LexisNexis® research system will then search for documents that contain the specific words and combinations of words in the search request. Each word, or one of its specified alternatives, must appear in each document retrieved.
Connectors are characters that establish logical relationships between words and concepts. Multiple connectors can be used in a single search request.
When multiple connectors are used in a search, the LexisNexis® services process the search according to a priority order that works much like an algebraic equation. Connectors operate in the following order of priority:
1. OR
2. W/n, PRE/n
3. W/S
4. W/P
5. AND
6. AND NOT
The following is a list of connectors in their order of priority:
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OR |
Use the OR connector to link synonyms, alternative spellings, abbreviations, and so on. Example: doctor or physician -- finds either doctor or physician.
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PRE/n |
Use the PRE/n connector to find documents in which the first search word precedes the second by not more than the stated number of words. The letter "n" stands for a number from 1 to 255. Use this connector when a different word order would change the meaning. Example: southwest pre/2 air or airline -- finds Southwest Air or Southwest Airlines.
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W/n |
Use the W/n connector to find documents with search words that appear within "n" words of each other. W/n does not specify a word order. Example: banking w/5 fraud -- finds banking within five or fewer words of fraud, regardless of which word appears first.
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W/p |
Use the W/p connector to find documents with search words that appear within the same paragraph. You may also use W/p when you want your search words to have a general relationship to each other. Example: banking w/p fraud -- finds banking in the same paragraph as fraud. NOTE: The W/p connector cannot be combined with the W/n connector.
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W/s |
Use the W/s connector to find documents with search words that appear within the same sentence. You may also use W/s when you want a close relationship between words without specifying an exact proximity. Example: banking w/s fraud -- finds banking in the same sentence as fraud. NOTE: The W/s connector cannot be combined with the W/n connector.
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AND |
Use the AND connector to link words or phrases that must both appear anywhere in the same document, no matter how close or far apart. As a general rule, use AND when it doesn't matter where your search words appear in a document. Use the W/n connector when there is a connection between your search terms and you need to find the terms near each other. Example: banking and fraud -- finds both banking and fraud anywhere in the same document.
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AND NOT |
Use the AND NOT connector to find documents in which a search word or phrase is to be excluded. Use this connector with caution because it can exclude relevant documents. Always use this connector at the end of your search. Example: banking and not fraud -- finds the word banking anywhere in the document, but the word fraud cannot appear anywhere in the same document. |
On certain search forms, dates may be used in the Additional Terms section, in order to focus search results.
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Date Equals (is) |
Use this connector to specify an exact date you would like to target. |
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Date Before (bef) |
Use this connector to find documents that were published before a specified date. |
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Date After (aft) |
Use this connector to focus on documents published after a given date. |
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Date Between (btw) |
Use this connector to locate documents published between a set of specified dates. |
The asterisk ( * ) and the exclamation mark ( ! ) are referred to as special characters. Sometimes they are called "wildcards." Use them to substitute for letters in words.
Asterisk ( * )
Use an asterisk (*) as a "wildcard" to replace a character anywhere in a word, except the first character. Use one asterisk for each character you want to replace.
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bernst**n |
Finds the ei or ie spelling of the name. |
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wom*n |
Finds woman and women. |
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bank*** |
Finds any word beginning with bank and which has no more than three letters after the k; will pick up banker and banking, but will not pick up bankrupt or bankruptcy. |
Exclamation Mark
Use an exclamation mark (!) to truncate a word to find all the words made by adding letters to the end of it. For example, acqui! would find variations on the term acquire such as acquires, acquired, acquiring, and acquisition.
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litigat! |
Finds variations of the word litigate (litigator, litigated, litigation, litigating). |
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acqui! |
Finds variations of the word acquire (acquired, acquiring, acquisition). |
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book! |
Finds book or bookkeeper, but will not find book-keeper or book keeper because these are read as two separate words.
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NOTE: Words that work best with "!" are those that are unique in their truncated form. For example, if you search for "fir!" (thinking that you want to find "fired," "firing," or "fires"), your results will also include "first," "firm," etc. |
When searching for documents about a company, include all variations of the company name.
Suggested searches for finding information about a company:
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Field Name |
Searching For... |
What to Enter... |
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Company Name |
Pepsi Co. |
pepsi co or pepsico
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Company Name |
W W Grainger Inc. |
ww or w.w. or w w pre/2 grainger
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Company Name |
International Business Machines Corp. |
international business machines or ibm or i.b.m. or i b m |
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NOTE: The LexisNexis® services automatically search for some words and abbreviations that are equivalent to each other. For example, a search for the word Co will find articles containing Co as well as the word Company because they are equivalents.
Some company names are unique and do not require the words Company, Corp, and Corporation to be searched to find relevant articles. For example, to find documents for IBM Corp, it is unnecessary to include the word Corp. |
Use the W/3 connector to join a person's first name and last name. The W/3 connector finds the first name within three or fewer words of the last name. This research technique allows for middle initials, surnames, or the last name to appear either before or after the first name. For example, to find documents referring to John Doe:
Enter: john w/3 doe
Some names have common alternatives, such as Cathy and Kathy, and spacing or punctuation considerations. For these names, use a more detailed search. For example:
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Name: |
Enter: |
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John Kennedy |
john or jack w/3 kennedy
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Margaret McMac |
margaret or peg! w/3 mcmac or mc mac
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Karen O'Neal |
karen w/3 o'neal or oneal or o neal
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Robert Smith |
robert or bob or robt w/3 smith |
