What are the search changes for Engineering Village?
Last updated on September 24, 2025
Engineering Village made several improvements to its search engine. See below for a brief summary of these changes.
Boolean operators allow you to combine terms using AND, OR, and NOT in Quick and Expert searches.
The Boolean operators search precedence has changed since its initial implementation. The Boolean operators now follow the search precedence order listed below.
- NOT has the highest precedence
- AND has the following highest precedence
- OR has the lowest precedence
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metal OR alloy AND ductile | ((metal OR alloy) AND ductile) | (metal OR (alloy AND ductile)) |
"artificial intelligence" OR AI AND "deep learning" NOT "machine learning" | (("artificial intelligence" OR AI) AND "deep learning") NOT "machine learning" | "artificial intelligence" OR (AI AND ("deep learning" NOT "machine learning")) |
The NEAR and ONEAR Proximity operators enable you to search for terms that are near or adjacent to each other within the text of the record. You may use the proximity operators in Quick and Expert searches.
The proximity number signifies the maximum number of words that are indexed between the two words in the search query. If no number of words is specified in the proximity query, four (4) words are assumed. For example, laser near diode yields the same search results as laser near/4 diode.
The ONEAR (ordered) search operator is used for searching terms near each in the order specified in the search query. For example, time onear/1 travel only yields search results when the term "time" precedes the term "travel" and the words are located within one word of each other.
Engineering Village recommends using fielded search queries to ensure the most consistent search results for exact phrase searches when used in conjunction with the proximity operator. The search engine cannot enforce the proximity of an exact phrase across different fields.
Additionally, for precise search results, you may use exact phrase searches to see ordered results (e.g., "time travel," "stress test," and "wind shear").
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Example 1: (measure NEAR/6 emergency) WN TI | Search results for Example 1 search query must have the terms "measure" and "emergency" located within six terms of each other in any order in the document's title.
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Example 2: (((lower NEAR/3 limb) OR (lower NEAR/3 extremity)) WN TI) | Search results for Example 2 search query must have the term lower located within three words of the term limb or extremity in any order within the title of the document. The search terms need to be balanced in the search query so that the term "lower" is adjacent to the NEAR proximity operator and both corresponding search terms. Additionally, the proximity operator cannot be separated by parentheses from the search terms. It is acceptable for the search query along with the proximity operator to be enclosed in parentheses as shown in this example.
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Example 3: ((time ONEAR/0 travel) WN TI) is NOT the same search query as ((travel ONEAR/0 time) WN TI)) | In the following search query: ((time ONEAR/0 travel) WN TI) All search results must contain the term time preceding the term travel with no words in between these two words within the TITLE field. In the following search query: All search results must contain the term travel preceding the term time with no words in between these two words within the TITLE field. ((travel ONEAR/0 time) WN TI)) For more precise search results, Engineering Village recommends using double quotation marks or curly braces to perform your search query (rather than using the proximity operator with a 0) to ensure correct search results. For example, if you want your search results to reflect "time travel," then perform the following search: "time travel" WN TI If you want your search results to reflect "travel time," then perform the following search: "travel time" WN TI |
Example 4: ((stress NEAR strain) WN CV) | Proximity searches no longer find documents where the matched words are located in separate terms within the CONTROLLED VOCABULARY (‘CV’) field. Previously, the search results for this example matched the adjacent search terms "stress" and "strain" from the ‘CV’ terms field, but the adjacent matches originated from separate controlled vocabulary terms (e.g., "Shear stress" - "Strain energy") within this field. Now the search results will include only individual controlled vocabulary terms that match the words from the proximity search queries. Each of the controlled vocabulary terms for Example 4 contain three words and match the two words in the search query within four words of each other.
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Example 5: ((stress NEAR/4 test WN CV) | As described in the Example 4, the search results will include only individual controlled vocabulary terms that match the words in the proximity search query. For Example 5 search query results, some of the controlled vocabulary terms have three words, some have four words, and one of them has five words. All controlled vocabulary search terms contain the search terms "stress" and "test" within four words of each other.
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Example 6: "Artificial intelligence" NEAR "computational" WN TI |
Search results will have the terms "artificial intelligence" located within four words of the term "computational" within the document title. Document title examples:
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Example 7: {computational} NEAR {artificial intelligence} | The search terms for this query are located in component fields of the composite ‘ALL’ field since no field is requested. Thus, the search engine simply searches for the proximity of each term rather than the exact phrase. The results will contain documents in which "computational," "artificial," and "intelligence" are within four words in any of the component fields within the ‘ALL’ field. Therefore, some of the the search terms could be located in the title, while others are located in the abstract, controlled terms, sourcetitle, etc.
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Example 8: (((limb ONEAR/3 extremity) OR (extremity ONEAR/3 lower)) WN TI) | Search results for Example 8 search query must have the term limb precede the term extremity or the term extremity precede the term lower and be located within three words of either one within the title of the document. The search terms need to be balanced in the search query so that the terms limb and extremity are adjacent to the ONEAR proximity operator and to their corresponding search terms. Additionally, the proximity operator cannot be separated by parentheses from the search terms. It is acceptable for the search terms along with the proximity operator to be enclosed in parentheses as shown in this example. The third example below demonstrates that the term ‘Extreme’ is a derivative of the word ‘extremity’ and the ‘Autostem’ feature has been enabled for these search queries.
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Listed below are changes to the following three search fields:
‘ALL’ field
The Affiliation (‘AF’) field has been added to the ‘ALL’ field. You may search for affiliation content using the ‘ALL’ field from either the Quick or Expert search forms.
Author (‘AU’), First Author (‘FIRSTAU’), and Affiliation (‘AF’) fields
For simple phrase searches, periods, commas, hyphens, and whitespace will continue to be ignored when searching the ‘AU,’ ‘FIRSTAU,’ and ‘AF’ fields.
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Smith-Lee, A. J. WN AU | Smith Lee, A.J. (hyphen and whitespace insignificant) Smith Lee, A J (hyphen and periods insignificant) Smith-Lee , A. J. (additional whitespace before comma insignificant) Note: Smith-Lee, AJ is not an equivalent search query because there are no periods or whitespace between the letters "A" and "J" in this query. |
Brown-Gaston, R. L. WN FIRSTAU | Brown Gaston, R.L. (hyphen and whitespace insignificant) Brown Gaston, R L (hyphen and periods insignificant) Brown-Gaston , R. L. (additional whitespace before comma insignificant) Note: Brown-Gaston, RL is not an equivalent search query because there are no periods or whitespace between the letters "R" and "L" in this query. |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign WN AF | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign WN AF These two queries yield the same results as the hyphen is insignificant in this case. |
For exact searches, periods, commas, and whitespace will continue to be ignored when searching the ‘AU,’ ‘FIRSTAU,’and ‘AF’ fields. However, hyphens are significant when searching these fields.
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{Smith-Lee, A. J.} WN AU OR "Smith-Lee, A. J." WN AU | {Smith-Lee, A.J.} WN AU (whitespace insignificant and hyphen is significant) "Smith-Lee, A J" WN AU (periods insignificant) {Smith-Lee , A. J.} WN AU (additional whitespace before comma insignificant) Note: {Smith-Lee, AJ} WN AU is not an equivalent search query because there are no periods or whitespace between the letters "A" and "J" in this query. Additionally, "Smith Lee, A. J." WN AU is not an equivalent search query to the one in the ‘Exact search examples’ column because there is no hyphen in this search query. Only records in which this author's surname does not have a hyphen will be found. |
{Lang, Jean Paul} WN AU | {Lang, Jean-Paul} WN AU is not an equivalent exact search query to the one in the ‘Exact search examples’ column because there is a hyphen in this query. Including a hyphen in this search query will only find records in which the author's name contains a hyphen. Note: Exact search queries are the default search for implicit author links. |
{Murray-Smith, R.} WN FIRSTAU | {Murray Smith, R.} WN FIRSTAU is not an equivalent exact search query to the one in the ‘Exact search examples’ column because this query doesn't contain a hyphen in it. By not including a hyphen in this search query, the results will not find records in which the author's name contains a hyphen. |
"Wright-Patterson University" WN AF | "Wright Patterson University" WN AF is not an equivalent exact search query because there is no hyphen in this query. By not including a hyphen in this search query, the search results will only contain records in which the affiliation's name does not contain a hyphen. |
The entire author name must match for an exact author search. Previously, for example, an exact search for a surname or a first name returned results when either one or the other matched the author search query. Now the entire name must match the search query to return results. The same is true for affiliations. Exact searches for affiliation names must match the entire affiliation name, not just a component of it.
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{Lange} WN AU
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Current search results: Records which contain only the name "Lange" in them are returned in the search results. These records contain the name "Lange" as either a one-word company name or as a name with no other information (no first name and no surname) in them. |
{Smith} WN FIRSTAU | Previous search results for this field:
Current search results: Records which contain only the name "Smith" in them are returned in the search results. These records contain the name "Smith" as either a one-word company name or as a name with no other information (no first name and no surname) in them. |
"3M" WN AU | Previous search results:
Current search results: Zero search results as there are no records which just contain the exact term "3M." |
Grant funding information (‘GFI’) field
This is a composite field that contains all the grant funding related fields: ‘GAG’ (Grant funding agency/sponsor), ‘GFA’ (Grant funding acronym), ‘GFN’ (Grant funding id number) as well as the Grant funding text. None of the grant funding related fields are included in the ‘ALL’ field.
Use wildcards and truncation in Quick and Expert searches to help make your queries more specific. Note that some of the results for these searches have changed.
See below for a brief list of the rules to follow when performing wildcard or truncation searches. Refer to the Wildcards and truncation and Possible syntax errors sections of the What are the general rules for searching? FAQ for additional examples.
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Use a question mark (?) to replace a single character anywhere in a word. | wom?n finds the following:
Sm?th finds the following:
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Use one question mark (?) for each character that you want to replace. | t??th finds the following:
A?J? WN AU finds the following:
However, it does NOT find the following:
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Use an asterisk (*) to replace 0 to x number of characters anywhere in a word. | h*emoglobin finds the following:
(Green E*) WN AU finds the following:
Note: Refer to Wildcard/truncation for specific rules when using this feature. |
In Expert search, truncation can be used to represent the beginning year or ending year in year range searches | To find documents published in 2000 or before: (*-2000 WN YR) To find documents published in 2018 or after: (2018-* WN YR)
Note: There are no spaces between the asterisk, hyphen, and four-digit-year for these year range search queries. For example, 2018 - * WN YR produces an error message as truncation characters cannot be standalone search components. |
There is no limit to the total number of wildcards in a search query. | (comput* OR intel* OR artif* OR emerg* OR collab* OR invest* OR meas* WN TI)
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There is a limit of three (3) wildcards per search term. | Valid query: ((experim??? OR test??? OR techni???) WN TI). Syntax error due to exceeding the maximum number of wildcards in a search term: (([E???-0?(20??)??]) WN STDID) |
Truncation search queries require two or more characters for all fields except AUTHOR (AU) and FIRST AUTHOR (FIRSTAU). | The wildcard/truncation characters (?) and (*) must be adjacent to two or more characters in the search term.
Examples: (University of To*) WN AF (structural pr*) WN AB
Syntax errors will be present for the following examples in which the minimum number of characters were not present for search terms using the question mark (?) as a wildcard or the asterisk (*) as truncation: (*) WN AB (?) WN ALL (University of T*) WN AF Thermal d* WN CV |
Truncation search queries require one or more characters for the AUTHOR (AU) and FIRST AUTHOR (FIRSTAU) fields. The parentheses in these search queries must be properly nested to be valid. | The AUTHOR and FIRST AUTHOR fields require the following rules when using truncation to avoid syntax errors:
Examples: ((Bailey S*) WN AU) (Grahn R*) WN AU (Kumar P?) WN AU ((Smith, R?) WN AU) ((Browning K*) WN FIRSTAU) Syntax errors will be created for the following search queries in which one or both of the rules listed above were not followed while using truncation: (Bailey S* WN AU) (R* WN AU) (Grahn, R*) WN AU)) Kumar P* WN AU (Browning K* WN FIRSTAU) |
Search terms beginning and ending with truncation operators are not permitted. | A search term cannot have truncation operators both precede it and follow it in a search query. Examples: Syntax errors for the following search queries: *radi* WN TI *hydrox* WN CV |
Wildcards and truncation are now supported in exact phrase searches. | In the following example, documents that contain derivatives of the root terms ({comput* intel*}) are found within the ABSTRACT field. ({comput* intel*} WN AB) Search results:
In the following example, documents that contain derivatives of the root terms ("emerg*" and "tech*") are found within the within the TITLE field. ("emerg* tech*" WN TI) Search results:
In the following example, documents that contain derivatives of the root term ("women* heal*" or "woman heal*") are found within the within the TITLE field. ("wom?n heal*" WN TI) Search results:
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The NEAR proximity operator now supports being used with wildcards or truncation. | In the following search query, the terms "meas*" and "emerg*" are expanded to various forms of these terms (e.g., "measure," "measurement," "measures," "measuring," "emergencies," "emerging," "emergent," "emergence,") etc. The title will contain these search terms within three words of each other. ((meas* NEAR/3 emerg*) WN TI) Search results:
In the following search query, the search phrases "auto* software*" and "mach* learn*" are expanded to various forms of these terms (e.g., "automated," "automatic," "automating," "automotive," "machine," "machine-learning," "learn," "learning," "learning-based,")etc. The title will contain these search phrases within three words of each other. ("auto* software*" NEAR/3 "mach* learn*" WN TI) Search results:
Refer to How do I use the Proximity / NEAR and ONEAR Operators for more information. |
The ONEAR proximity operator has been reinstated and now supports being used with wildcards or truncation. | In the following search query, the terms "meas*" and "emerg*" are expanded to various forms of these terms (e.g., "measure," "measurement," "measures," "measuring," "emergencies," "emerging," "emergent," "emergence,") etc. The title will contain these search terms within three words of each other. ((meas* ONEAR/3 emerg*) WN TI) Search results:
In the following search query, the search phrase "mach* learn*" and "auto* software*" are expanded to various forms of these terms (e.g., "machine," "learn," "learning," "automotive" "automatic," etc.). The title will contain these search phrases within three words of each other. Additionally, the derivatives of the phrase "mach* learn*" will precede the derivatives of the phrase "auto* software." ("mach* learn*" onear/3 "auto* software" WN TI) Search results:
Refer to How do I use the Proximity / NEAR and ONEAR Operators for more information. |
The sort order for Thesaurus search results has changed since its original implementation. The search results are now sorted alphabetically by term matches first, followed by directly related term matches. Previously, all Thesaurus search results (both term matches and directly related term matches) were sorted together alphabetically.
The new Quick search form is a new start page that is designed for very quick and simple searches.
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