Advanced Search Syntax
Use these operators in the search bar to filter your results precisely.
Our search understands special commands. Type them directly into the search bar to activate advanced filters.
Date Operators
Format: date:YYYY or date:YYYY-MM or date:YYYY-MM-DD or date:YYYY-YYYY
Examples:
CRISPR date:2015-2020COVID vaccine date:2020-03 | date:2020-12 (range between two dates)climate change date:2024exoplanets date:2024-01-01 | date:2024-06-30
Date Range Syntax:
date:2020-03 | date:2020-12 (year-month range)date:2020 | date:2023 (year range)date:2020-03-15 | date:2020-12-31 (full date range)
Alternative syntax:
published:2023year:2020-2022
Institution Operators
Format: source:"Institution Name" or institution:"Institution Name"
Examples:
source:MIT artificial intelligenceinstitution:"Johns Hopkins" COVIDsource:NASA Marssource:"Max Planck Institute" quantuminstitution:Stanford medicine
Tip: Use quotes for multi-word institutions
Journal Operators
Format: journal:"Journal Name"
Examples:
journal:Nature gene editingjournal:"The Lancet" clinical trialjournal:Science climatejournal:Cell immunology
Research Method Operators
Format: method:"research type"
Examples:
method:"randomized controlled trial" cancermethod:"meta-analysis" dietmethod:"observational study" air pollutionmethod:"experimental study" photosynthesismethod:"computational modeling" protein folding
Research Subject Operators
Format: subject:"subject type"
Examples:
subject:people depression treatmentsubject:animals behaviorsubject:cells agingsubject:"data analysis" epidemiology
Keyword/Topic Operators
Format: keyword:"topic" or topic:"category"
Examples:
keyword:immunology T-cellstopic:"machine learning" healthcarekeyword:"climate change" adaptationtopic:exoplanets habitable
DOI Search
Format: doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx
Examples:
doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06825-8doi:10.1126/science.abc1234
Format: has:images or has:video or has:multimedia
Examples:
Mars rover has:imagescell division has:videoblack hole has:multimediasource:NASA has:images date:2024
Exact Phrase Search
Format: "exact phrase in quotes"
Examples:
"long COVID" treatment"mRNA vaccine" development"gravitational waves" detection"CRISPR-Cas9" therapy
Combining Multiple Operators
This is where it gets powerful. Stack operators to create precise queries:
Examples:
source:MIT topic:"artificial intelligence" date:2023-2024 has:imagesjournal:Nature method:"randomized controlled trial" date:2020 | date:2022 COVIDinstitution:"Johns Hopkins" subject:people vaccine date:2020source:NASA keyword:Mars has:multimedia date:2021 | date:2025journal:"The Lancet" method:"meta-analysis" subject:people cardiovascularCRISPR source:Berkeley journal:Science date:2015-2020climate source:"NOAA" date:2024 has:imagesquantum institution:"MIT" OR institution:"Caltech" date:2023
Boolean Operators
Format: AND, OR, NOT (in capitals)
Examples:
vaccine AND efficacy NOT animalclimate change AND (adaptation OR mitigation)source:MIT OR source:Stanford artificial intelligencecancer treatment NOT chemotherapy(immunotherapy OR CAR-T) AND melanoma
Wildcard Search
Format: * for wildcard matching
Examples:
neuro* (finds neuroscience, neurology, neuroplasticity, etc.)COVID-* (finds COVID-19, COVID-related, etc.)bio*technology
Quick Reference Table
| What You Want |
Type This |
Example |
| Specific institution | source:"Name" | source:"MIT" |
| Date range | date:YYYY | date:YYYY | date:2020 | date:2023 |
| Specific journal | journal:"Name" | journal:Nature |
| Study type | method:"Type" | method:"clinical trial" |
| What was studied | subject:"Type" | subject:people |
| Has media | has:images | has:video |
| Exact phrase | "phrase" | "dark matter" |
| Combine searches | operator operator | source:NASA date:2024 |
| Multiple options | OR | journal:Nature OR journal:Science |
Pro Tips
Start simple, then add:
cancercancer date:2024cancer date:2024 method:"clinical trial"cancer date:2024 method:"clinical trial" source:Stanford
Use parentheses for complex queries:
(source:MIT OR source:Harvard) AND topic:"quantum computing" AND date:2023-2024
Combine text search with operators:
mRNA vaccine development source:"Moderna" OR source:"Pfizer" date:2020
Search within search results:
After getting results, refine by adding more operators to your original query.