Databases function by searching each individual word in the search string. For example, copyright infringement will retrieve ALL documents with copyright, ALL documents with infringement, and ALL documents with copyright infringement. However, it will not retrieve variant forms of the search concepts, such as infringe or infringed. This typically results in numerous irrelevant or unrelated search results.
Searching by a specific phrase or word combination is one of the easiest and most precise methods of searching. Enclosing the search phrase in quotation marks (" ") specifies the database should retrieve the exact phrase: "copyright infringement." This is particularly useful when searching full names, e.g. "Lady Gaga."
Phrase searching narrows the potential retrieved result to a smaller set of relevant works. It also searches for and retrieves the individual concepts in the search phrase.
Searching: Academic Search Complete
| "copyright infringement" | Select a Field (optional) | |
| AND | "Ed Sheeran" | Select a Field (optional) |
| AND | Select a Field (optional) |