ICL Search Tips
Below are the search tips that appear on ICL’s home page. The pages in this Help section provide further assistance in the form of explanations and examples. PDF Version Need more help? Please read the pages in the Help section of the site, or try our Contact Us form.
Search Tip # 1: Search Boxes
From the pull-down menus beside the search boxes, type words or phrases in the default All Fields, or limit your search to specific fields.
Search Tip # 2: Boolean Operators
Select AND, OR, or NOT from the pull-down menus to combine terms typed in the search boxes.
Search Tip # 3: Phrases in Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks to retrieve phrases in any field. Examples: “low back pain”, “future of chiropractic”
Search Tip # 4: Searching by Author
Click on a specific name in the Online Author Index to place it in a search box, or enter author last name in the pull-down Author field.
Search Tip # 5: Searching by Subject
Click on terms in the Online Subject Index to place them in the search boxes, or enter a subject word or phrase (“in quotation marks”) in the pull-down Subject Keyword field. A word or phrase entered in the Subject Keyword field retrieves all Subject Headings containing that word or phrase.
Search Tip # 6: Wildcards
Use an asterisk (wildcard) to retrieve all forms of a word (also called truncation).
Example: injur* retrieves injury, injured, injuries
Search Tip # 7: Search History
ICL automatically creates a search history. Click the Search History tab, check relevant search statements, then combine them using AND, OR, or NOT from the pull-down menu.
Search Tip # 8: Limiters
Limit searches by journal, year of publication, peer review or publication type. Limit before searching.
Search Tip # 9: Hold Citations
To collect citations during a search session, check the ones you want to keep from your search results, and then click Hold Citations. Click the tab Held Citations to view your collection. You may then Display Abstracts, List, Print, Download or E-mail all or part of your collection.
Search Tip # 10: Web Links and Abstracts
Links to journal articles (sometimes full text) or PubMed records are provided where available. ICL includes abstracts where available, with the permission of the journal publishers.
