Proximity or Adjacency Operators are used to narrow searches by finding words that are next to, near, or within a specified distance from each other. While not always needed, it can be used when Boolean operator searches are not narrowing down a search.
Different databases uses different proximity operators. The most common operators are either a letter (N or W) or word (NEAR), followed by a number that specifies the number of words between each search term. To make sure certain words are near or next to each other, adjust the number you search - so the lower the number, the narrower the search.
Proximity Operators by Database
physical therapy is the search term and 3 is the number of words that fall between exercise and therapy.
| PubMed | CINAHL | APA PsycInfo | Web of Science | Cochrane |
|
"physical therapy"[Title/Abstract:~3] In any order only Field can be [Title], [Title/Abstract], [Abstract], or abbreviated as [ti], [tiab], [ab] |
(physical N3 therapy) in any order W3 for fixed word order |
(physical NEAR/3 therapy) in any order PRE/3 for fixed word order |
(physical NEAR/3 therapy) in any order |
(physical NEAR/3 therapy) in any order NEXT/3 for fixed word order |