Search tips

Check your spelling
Make sure you spelled the search terms correctly. When "Sound-alike" is checked, the search engine looks for words that sound similar to your search terms, but it is always best to spell the search terms correctly.

Use quotation marks
Quotation marks allow to find words which must appear adjacent to each other. Quotes work only with "Any words" selected. They are ignored if "All words" or "Exact phrase" is selected.
Example: "energy and environment"

Use multiple words
The search engine will return more refined results from several words than from a single word.

Use similar words
The more similar words you use in a search, the more relevant results you will get back.

Use appropriate capitalisation
Capitalise proper nouns. Lowercase words will match any case.

Use plus or minus signs
Use + when your search term or phrase must appear in the search results; use - to indicate that it must be absent in the search results. A phrase must be contained within quotation marks. + and - can only be used when the "any" radio button is selected. The signs are ignored if "All words" or "Exact phrase" radio button is selected.
Example: +"climate change"

Use field searches
Field searches allow you to look for words that appear in a particular part of the web pages. Select the appropriate part in the "Field" pull-down menu.

Use wildcards
Wildcard searches expand the number of matches for a particular request. The * character can be placed in any position.
Example: conference*