Skip to Main Content

Effectively Using Library Databases: IV - Truncation

Answer research questions by: - Locating library databases - Using Boolean operators, truncation, and filters to retrieve relevant search results - Evaluate search results - Gather and save search results for academic use

Using Truncation in Database Searches

Truncation is cutting off part of a word and adding an asterisk (*) to the end of it.

Example: Ethic*

When searching databases, this helps capture all potential forms of a word in a single search.

Ethic, Ethics, Ethical, Ethically

This means fewer searches that yield better results!

 

To Summarize...

Searching without truncation:

  • Searching for the word ethics
  • Only articles containing the exact word ethics appears.

Searching with truncation:

  • Searching for the word ethic*
  • Articles containing all forms of that work appear, greatly increasing search results.