Proximity Operators

Proximity Operators allow you to specify the closeness and order of search terms within a record. Each search system uses a different syntax for specifying proximity. This table summarizes proximity functions for commonly used search systems.

Vendor/Database	Operator	Function
CONSORT and OhioLINK Catalogs	(system default)	Adjacency. Searches multiple words as a phrase.
	NEAR	Retrieves records in which search terms are within 10 words of each other, in any order.
	WITHIN n	Search terms within n words of each other, in any order.
OSearch Databases    BIOSIS Previews    Compendex    MEDLINE    GeoRef    INSPEC	“Search for This Exact Phrase” or ADJ	Two or more words adjacent to each other in the order specified
	ADJn	Retrieves records in which both words are in the same sentence in the given order, where n is the maximum number of indexable words between search terms.
	NEAR	Two or more words, next to each other in either order.
	NEARn	Retrieves records that contain both words in the same sentence, in either order, where n is the maximum number of indexable words between the search terms.
	SAME	Retrieves records with both words in the same field.
	WITH	Retrieves records with both words in the same sentence.
EBSCOhost    Academic Search Complete    AGRICOLA    Alt Health Watch    CINAHL Plus    Computers and Applied Sciences       Complete    Environment Complete    Health Source - Nursing/Academic       Edition    MEDLINE	Wn (within)	Retrieves records in which the terms are within n words of each other, in the order specified.
	Nn (near)	Retrieves records in which the terms are within n words of each other, in any order.
FirstSearch    ArticleFirst    PapersFirst    ProceedingsFirst	W (with)	Retrieves records which contain search terms adjacent to each other, in the order specified.
	Wn	Retrieves records which contain the search terms in the order specified with up to n words between them. n = 1 to 25.
	N (near)	Retrieves records which contain search terms adjacent to each other, in either order.
	Nn	Retrieves records which contain the search terms in either order with up to n wrods between them. n = 1 to 25.