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:2015-2020
• COVID vaccine date:2020-03 | date:2020-12 (range between two dates)
• climate change date:2024
• exoplanets 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:2023
• year:2020-2022

Institution Operators

Format: source:"Institution Name" or institution:"Institution Name"

Examples:

• source:MIT artificial intelligence
• institution:"Johns Hopkins" COVID
• source:NASA Mars
• source:"Max Planck Institute" quantum
• institution:Stanford medicine

Tip: Use quotes for multi-word institutions

Journal Operators

Format: journal:"Journal Name"

Examples:

• journal:Nature gene editing
• journal:"The Lancet" clinical trial
• journal:Science climate
• journal:Cell immunology

Research Method Operators

Format: method:"research type"

Examples:

• method:"randomized controlled trial" cancer
• method:"meta-analysis" diet
• method:"observational study" air pollution
• method:"experimental study" photosynthesis
• method:"computational modeling" protein folding

Research Subject Operators

Format: subject:"subject type"

Examples:

• subject:people depression treatment
• subject:animals behavior
• subject:cells aging
• subject:"data analysis" epidemiology

Keyword/Topic Operators

Format: keyword:"topic" or topic:"category"

Examples:

• keyword:immunology T-cells
• topic:"machine learning" healthcare
• keyword:"climate change" adaptation
• topic:exoplanets habitable

DOI Search

Format: doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx

Examples:

• doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06825-8
• doi:10.1126/science.abc1234

Multimedia Filter

Format: has:images or has:video or has:multimedia

Examples:

• Mars rover has:images
• cell division has:video
• black hole has:multimedia
• source: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:images
• journal:Nature method:"randomized controlled trial" date:2020 | date:2022 COVID
• institution:"Johns Hopkins" subject:people vaccine date:2020
• source:NASA keyword:Mars has:multimedia date:2021 | date:2025
• journal:"The Lancet" method:"meta-analysis" subject:people cardiovascular
• CRISPR source:Berkeley journal:Science date:2015-2020
• climate source:"NOAA" date:2024 has:images
• quantum institution:"MIT" OR institution:"Caltech" date:2023

Boolean Operators

Format: AND, OR, NOT (in capitals)

Examples:

• vaccine AND efficacy NOT animal
• climate change AND (adaptation OR mitigation)
• source:MIT OR source:Stanford artificial intelligence
• cancer 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:

• cancer
• cancer date:2024
• cancer 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.